So, it’s somehow mid-August already. Yet again, time flies.
I keep coming back in my mind to that quote in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Moving forward I need to find a better split. Work smarter, not harder.
But while I figure that out, I still have plenty to update you on!
Legacy
Remember that comic I wrote and was inking about the Natural History Museum London and whale oil earlier this year? It’s done! Titled Legacy, it’s been finished since March and is now sitting quietly waiting for publication. I’m hoping to bring it out in late 2024/early 2025 as part of a collection.
But while I’m working away on the next story for the collection, here are some sneak peeks!
Having finished this one up a few months ago it’s so exciting to share some previews with you. I can’t wait to bring Legacy out into the world. As well as being about the Cetacea Research Collection in London, it’s also about grief. It includes a bonus mini-comic Appendix I about how this collection links to my experiences. AND some incredibly nerdy and interesting content about how an institution like the NHM prepares whale, dolphin or porpoise specimens for research and display
Again, I can’t wait for you all to see it.
The effect of a very busy existence
So along with regular NHM research visits, writing, drawing and having a day job – alongside trying to spend time with my love, my family, friends, a baseball team and having a home to try and keep tidy – comes the slightly annoying after-effect of feeling run-down. And what happened in April? I got ill. Sofa-bound, violent coughing kind of ill. Something was going round at that time, but my shitty asthmatic lungs didn’t do me any favours and I was signed-off work and x-rayed to assess how bad it all was (spoiler: it wasn’t great).
So my imaginary deadline of launching a Kickstarter by the end of summer had to get canned.
On the plus side, having longer to think about comic #3 has been an unexpected joy. It’s given me time to really look at what I want to talk about.
The initial topic is broad: sound and communication. If you know anything about whale/dolphin/porpoise vocalisations you’ll know they can produce a range of sounds. But let me tell you – there’s SO much more to it than that. Varying Hertz levels, underwater sound channels, the changing shape of a beluga’s melon (supposedly named after the French hat rather than the fruit) when making certain sounds. It’s wild.
Side note: Check out Tom Mustill’s How to Be a Whale poetic sound journey if you’re interested in hearing the variety of sounds certain species produce.
So far my research and notes total 30 A4 pages. But I’m getting there, and with new technology and theories in abundance, it’s an exciting time to be working on this topic. So, watch this space!
It’s finally happened
That’s right my friends. I’ve finally seen a whale in the wild 🐋
I was lucky enough to be in Boston, Massachusetts with family last month, and of course I took the opportunity to go on a 4-hour whale watching adventure. And when we saw nothing the first time, you bet I went back out again two days later.
And there they were, beautiful female humpback whales near Stellwagen Bank on the humpback whale migration path. I just about managed to fumble this recording through stunned silence and sheer awe.
I also saw a fin whale in the distance, and around 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins including calves.
It’s something I’ll never forget.
And that’s it for now!
…excuse me while I nose-dive back into my not-at-all overwhelming pages of notes about whale vocalisations. Writing is always the most stressful part. Drawing is the fun bit. Wish me luck!
Until next time.
Rozi x