One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
The “Whale Walk” has returned to the paved paths of Doheny State Beach.
Four painted murals depicting a humpback whale, a gray whale and an orca whale, in addition to a sperm whale battling a giant squid, were repainted along the sand-side paths at Doheny State Beach on Saturday, March 9.
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
One of the “Whale Walk” murals painted on the asphalt walking paths at Doheny State Beach the weekend after the Festival of Whales in Dana Point Harbor. Photo: C. Jayden Smith
The street art project has been headed up by Jim Serpa, a former supervising ranger at Doheny, since its inception in 1999. Serpa brought this idea to life to subtly teach the public about whales and their actual size, according to the Orange County Register.
The Whale Walk is sponsored by Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching and the Doheny State Beach Foundation. The project was set to be redone prior to the annual Festival of Whales, but the wet weather might have washed out the art display.
This is the third time the project has been repainted since its 1999 debut. Serpa enlisted the help of San Clemente High School marine science students and Cal State Long Beach animation students to help paint the whales, which were sketched on the ground two weeks prior to painting.
