Well you’re absolutely guaranteed to spot whales at Middleton now with a timber sculpture of two of the frequent Southern Right whale visitors, Bobby and her calf Buttons, on permanent display.

These beautiful, lifelike sculptures were created by artist, Silvio Apponyi OAM, a South Australian sculptor who has many stunning pieces in various places around the state. We are very lucky to have a range of his sculptures to see and most of them are made from wood, but he also uses granite, marble and bronze to create his sculptures.

As with all of his sculptures he has captured perfectly intricate details which give these whale pieces such realism.

The timber that they’re carved from, was a large river red gum tree which fell on a property in the south east of the state and the owner donated it to the township of Middleton for the project. The perfect site for the sculpture was chosen next, which was a raised part of land near the coast where the whales can often be spotted in winter.

With the timber in situ, the next process was for local Ngarrindjeri man and artist, Cedric Varcoe to conduct a welcoming smoking ceremony at which he also told the dreaming story of Kondoli the whale.

Carving of the sculptures was then started by Silvio Apponyi and they were modelled on the whale ‘Buttons’, who has given birth to at least three calves in the Encounter Bay nursery. The first in 2013, then another in 2017 and Bobby in 2022.

Buttons was given her name for identification purposes, because of the white hardened skin on her head, called callosities, which looked like buttons. Like human fingerprints, these patterns are unique which enable the whales to be accurately identified and tracked. The life span of a Southern Right whale is around 80 years, so it’s hoped that they will keep returning for many years to come still.

The finished sculptures were then lifted by crane to their final resting place and can now be viewed by visitors to the Middleton and Basham Beach area.

Enjoy

Glenys