There’s a whale in the gym!
Meet Delilah - our inflatable North Atlantic right whale
When I was an intern back in 2012, I was cursed. No matter how much I heard about how amazingly unique right whales are or how critically endangered they are, the universe was telling me that it did NOT want me to see one. We would receive reports of them being close to shore so I would grab my binoculars and hustle to the beach, only to find a conspicuous looking rock. I was on a whale watch where the crew was telling me how exciting it was that we were seeing a right whale in October. Guess who didn’t turn her head in time to see the majestic black tail as the right whale dove down? I’m assuming it was majestic because I missed it! There was even a mom right whale who gave birth right outside our harbor down the street from the WDC office - the first time a right whale was documented having a newborn in her cold feeding grounds, rather than the calving grounds. What an amazing experience… if only I wasn’t out of town when it happened.
This curse was no joke.
Through my frustrations, there was one right whale who was always reliable. Her name is Delilah and she is a life-size inflatable right whale! Here is a picture of me hanging out with my only right whale friend in 2012:
After years of traveling around to different schools and events to teach as many people as we can about right whales and why they are so important to our ecosystem, Delilah was showing the signs of fatigue. This year we sent her off to our friends at Landmark Creations and Delilah came back a whole new whale!
On behalf of all of us whale-nerds at WDC, we are so excited to introduce you to new and improved Delilah, the life-size inflatable North Atlantic right whale!
You can take a peek at her improvements below, including painted on spine, ribs, skull, lungs, blowholes, eyes, and unique whale markings!
I joke that I was cursed, but I realize how incredibly fortunate I was to even come close to see such a rare whale. Thanks to support from #MetabolicStudio, we can now share Delilah and the story of the North Atlantic right whales with thousands of people so they can be just amazed with them as we are.
And in case you were wondering, yes I finally did see a real North Atlantic right whale. I finally found my white whale – er, I mean right whale!
Me and Delilah in 2019
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