Whale Bones

[DigitalScape]

These are the jaw bones of a blue whale (the largest living creature in the world). These were erected in 1963 on a bluff overlooking the Whitby harbor to honor all the men of Whitby who braved the seas around the world.

[Wavelength]

Hunted or natural death?

[DigitalScape]

Nandakumar, I do not know. The information sign did not elaborate.

[marlunn]

nice image - would have been tempted to go portrait and excluded the sign on the right. As an aside, I have one on slide somewhere of the one in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. Think they are both suffering the ravages of time and weather.

Nandakumar, bet you can guess

[DigitalScape]

Thank you for your comment, Mark. I have removed the sign (I should have done that before posting it)

[Adzman808]

Not just the largest living creature, but actually the largest known creature of all time!

Nice PP, great colours - the framing works, but I'd be interested to have seen some other angles...

Perhaps something with the structure on the hilltop or even with more sea in the background...

...but I wasn't there, so I can't be sure

[marlunn]

Thank you for your comment, Mark. I have removed the sign (I should have done that before posting it)

nicely done sir !

[Mike Buckley]

Beautiful framing in the composition. I'm sure there are many compositions that would work well, especially in a variety of lighting situations that command different viewpoints.

The small photo posted here displays some serious sharpening halos that presumably are not in the full-size file.

[ST1]

Nice image John of a town that's only thirty minutes drive from my home.
BTW Apparently there has been a whalebone arch in Whitby since the eighteen hundreds at which time Whitby had a large Whaling fleet.

This is a replacement set of whale jaw bones. The set that these replaced were much bigger but they were starting deteriorate. I'm not certain but I believe the 1963 set would have been the larger set that I make reference to.

The smaller set that you've made the image of were presented to Whitby by its twinned town Anchorage Alaska. This later set were put in place in 2002/3.

I understand that the 1963 jaw bones are now in storage/archive at Pannet Park museum in Whitby. Though at one time they allegedly appeared for sale on Fleabay!!

PS.
In answer to Wavelength's question :-

According to a 2012 BBC news article the new bones, which form the current 19ft (5.8m) arch, are from a bowhead whale which was killed legally by native Inuit in 1996.

Best Regards
Peter

[DigitalScape]

Thank you everyone for your comments and feedback. Peter, thank you for the additional details on the bones.

[Shadowman]

Nicely composed.

[IzzieK]

Yes, I like the composition very much...the village looks miniaturized. I love it.

[DigitalScape]

Thank you John and Izzie, I appreciate your comments/feedback.