by Ranger Jim Serpa

In case you haven't been out on the promenade at Doheny lately, there are three life-sized whales gracing the popular walkway (and more coming soon).

Ranger Jim Serpa had the idea to do something like this way back in 1991 when he arrived here from the Academy. But it took the experience of marine biologist/artist/musician Ken Watson and Volunteer Bill Brooks, plus the funding from DSBIA to pull it off.

Ken Watson and Ranger Serpa were driving home from a class on sharks they had attended at the San Diego Natural History Museum. The two were exchanging ideas about interpretation when Serpa mentioned he had always wanted to do some sort of life-sized whale painting for the Dana Point Whale Festival. Ken Watson told Ranger Serpa he had done dozens of these types of murals all over California and Nevada. With very little coaxing from Ranger Serpa, Ken Watson agreed to help, and the "Doheny Whaling Walk" was born.

Back in February (1999), art students from Chapman Lyceum High School, under the direction of former aquarium assistant Erin Shea, painted a life-size Gray Whale and calf in front of Restroom C. The whale measured just over 40 feet in length. Ranger Lynn Holland cooked lunch for he hungry teens and present day aquarium Park Aide, Sara Shouse, was on hand to help. Ranger Serpa was there to photograph the event and lend support and, as Bill Brooks quipped, "not to get his uniform painted upon."

Then on June 12th, the 1999 summer volunteers banded together, under the tutelage of Ken and Bill, Ranger Lynn Holland (on her day off), Ranger Jody Kummer and Ranger Jim Serpa, to pull off an extraordinary feat – the painting of a 95-foot blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit the earth. It truly is an amazing sight, visible just north of the concession stand, in all it's bright blue splendor.

The whales are first drawn by Ken Watson who then plots a grid over them. The students transfer the grid onto the pavement with chalk snap lines. Then they copy the drawing onto the pavement, grid box by grid box, using chalk. The bid difference is that instead of the grid boxes being an inch square, they are up to five feet or more in size. The next step is to paint the outline of the whale. The "artists" fill in (or block) the whale's body with paint. Finally, they put the finishing touches on, which help to make the painting come alive.