Rancho Palos Wyland Whaling Wall 3

History of the Rancho Palos Verdes Whaling Wall 3

-Spy hopping

When Wyland was asked to paint a mural at the former Marineland in Palos Verdes,
California, he had his choice of walls. After walking by one wall that he found rather
interesting because of its height, he walked out to the peninsula that overlooks Palos Verdes. Just as he looked out over the bay, a gray whale stuck its head completely out of the water in a behavior called “;spy hopping.” The whale, and the wall he had viewed minutes earlier, suddenly came together in his mind. “At that moment, I had my painting,” Wyland says. “It was just a matter of creating it. The image was there.” It took nine days for Wyland to complete the 20' x 30' mural, which is located in the park's whale pavilion. “The interesting thing about painting at Marineland was that there were so many people watching me work,” the artist says, It was a lot of fun and very inspirational to talk to all of them about their different experiences with whales, I think we all learned something”

Did you Know

In 1984, congress passed new legislation requiring safer disposal of hazardous waste
across the country in an amendment to the U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The act was instrumental in protecting human health and safeguarding the natural environment could be protected from potential problems from improper waste disposal.

Marineland, Rancho Palos Verdes, California
20 Feet Long x 30 Feet High
Dedicated June 27, 1984
By Cleveland Amory, Founder of Fund for Animals

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