HUMPBACK WHALES REBOUND
Humpback whales are making a comeback in the Salish Sea, but face increasing entanglements with fishing gear. View the online story published by The Seattle Times on Sept. 10, 2023.
On the cover of the newspaper’s local section, a dynamic cutaway of the water’s surface reveals our familiar human world above—ferry boat heading toward the Seattle skyline—and the humpback whales’ world below.
The online story included interactive charts and a variation of the illustration showing a whale entangled in a fishing bouy.
Process
From the start, I knew I wanted this piece to include the familiar ferry commute and Seattle skyline. I haven’t been lucky enough to see whales from the ferries yet, but it’s worth remembering we live right alongside these leviathans.
I used both Concepts and Procreate to create concept sketches, and Procreate to render the final illustrations. Charts were initially built in Datawrapper and then formatted in Adobe Illustrator for print.
