OCEAN BUBBA – Whale Calf

This is a playful painting using masking tape to reveal the shape of Mumma and Bubba moving through the kelp. I wanted to keep it playful, for whilst a calf is huge compared to human babies, they still need mamma and want to play just the same. Unlike a human baby that "sucks" to get milk, a whale calf cannot easily create a vacuum underwater. Instead, the mother uses powerful muscles to physically pump or squirt the milk directly into the calf’s mouth. Because both mother and baby are in motion, much of the milk floats in the water however due to its high fat content it stays in a clump underwater and the baby calf can just open its mouth and gather it up. It's so important that our oceans are clean and free from micro-plastics.