Whale tales

Top: Flora Stevens Oskam (standing) and Zoe Chine, Sophia Liu, Ashley Gan and Grace Umezaki (seated)

Top right : Grace Umezaki, Ashley Gan (obscured) and Sophia Liu

Above: Ashley Gan and Grace Umezaki Whale Tales art trail is a public art trail that celebrates the collaboration of New Zealand art and conservation. Under the auspices of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 80 whale tail sculptures were painted by leading and up-and-coming artists and dotted around Auckland for people to discover and enjoy. The sculptures were then auctioned on 2 May to raise funds for the WWF.

At the centre of this immersive experience is the plight of the Bryde’s whale (pronounced ‘Broo-dus’) that lives in our backyard, the Hauraki Gulf. The are only approx 135 of these magnificent creatures left. The WWF has a vision of protecting and restoring the mauri (life force) of our ocean that Bryde’s whales need to survive and thrive.

Diocesan Junior School was lucky to be chosen by Stuff.co.nz and sponsored to paint a mini whale tail. It was displayed inside the Auckland Museum until midApril and then returned to us to enjoy.

Our Year 6 students followed the creative process to research and plan an idea for our mini tail that promoted awareness around our marine environment and the Bryde’s whale. Junior School staff were invited to vote and, after much debate the winning entry titled ‘Human Impact’, was by Flora Stevens Oskam (6LS).

In her words: “Until recently, the main threat to endangered Bryde’s whales was collision with ships, because they live in the main shipping channel to Auckland’s port. Shipping traffic started to reduce speeds and use an alert system and for eight years now, no Bryde’s whales have been killed by ships. However, there are other threats on the horizon – overfishing, pollution and oil spills. Human impact causes threats, but human impact can save the whales as well.”

A small group of Year 6 finalists, guided by Flora, painted the whale tail during their lunchtimes to bring her design to life. We are all very proud of the masterpiece and to be part of creating more awareness for the Bryde's whale within our School community and beyond.

Another Dio connection with Whale Tales is the work of alumna and past Junior School pupil Talia Pua. Talia painted a fibreglass whale tail for Britomart that weaves in stories of the history of Chinese migration to New Zealand and the ocean that those migrants crossed to get here.

Read Talia's interview about her work at: https://britomart.org/whaletales/.