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# Father and son fly whale mural plane cross-country to rally children against whaling
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/051807-story/
- Published: 2007-05-18T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:47:10.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Ramage decided at 3:30 in the morning one February day to take a cross-country trip with his son. The IFAW and Cape Air commissioned Jürek, an artist who often worked with the Grateful Dead, to paint the mural of the humpback whales on the Cessna 402.

On the nose and body of the plane, the humpback whale swims beneath the ocean, making its way to the tail, where it rises above water in front of a setting sun. Knowing the conference was coming up in Alaska, and at the same time hearing about the Japanese government’s policy to continue commercial whaling of the same humpback whale species, Ramage decided it was time to take action.

The father and son have been collecting art-work along the way, both in person and over the Internet, recognizing the importance of getting children involved in the cause to protect the whales. The Ramages plan to compile a portfolio of the top 50 or so art pieces and present them during the reception of the International Whaling Commission meeting.

“My dad and other adults are doing their part to protect whales, but children in this day and age need to get involved and do their part to save the whales too,” Henry Ramage said. “As we fly from city to city, I will be collecting artwork from kids who care about whales and want to get involved.”

In nearly every stop, both Patrick and Henry Ramage have been meeting with local elected officials and students, talking about the risks that whales face from fishing, pollution and even global warming. They were unable to schedule such a meeting in Santa Monica since they had arrived a day earlier than planned because of the complications in Las Vegas.

The two addressed the threats facing whales today, particularly from countries like Japan, Iceland and Norway, which are seeking to reopen commercial trading of whale meat, Patrick Ramage said.

But whales also face threats from entanglement of fishing nets, fish strikes and underwater noise pollution.

“Sadly, these whales today are not safe,” Patrick Ramage said. “They face more threats today than at any time in their history and that’s saying something because some of these species have been with us for millions of years.”

While many people believe whaling is a thing of the past, with a ban placed on commercial whaling in the 1980s, thousands of whales continue to be killed, Dorothee Alsentzer,a legal fellow with Natural Resources Defense Council, said at the press conference.

“We must act now to end commercial whaling once and for all.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 18, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051807.pdf?ref=smdp.com)