“Everything soft was transparent to the whale. It saw a seal’s heart pumping, just as you see a fetal heart with ultrasound (and the heart beat faster as it felt the hiss of the ultrasound). It saw blood swishing along the aorta of its own pod-sister, and the remnants of the porpoise that they’d caught off Rum being squeezed towards its brother’s anus.” —Charles Foster

This piece was originally created Emergence magazine, to accompany an essay by Charles Foster on orca language.

Original scratchboard illustration, 2019, 8.5”x11”

(Note: mat and frame not included)