About an unusual monument made of whale vertebrae and black dolphins (9 photos)
These exact replicas of a whale's spine are a silent tribute to the keepers of Canary Island history. 
The Canary Islands are now a paradise for whale watchers, especially pilot whales. But it wasn't always like that: the locals once hunted these giants themselves. In the town of El Medano on Tenerife, the memory of this is carved in stone. 
"Connection and Disconnection" is a work by artist Guillermo Batista, located on the eastern outskirts of the town. Two compositions repeat the shape of whale vertebrae: in the first, seven "bones" are folded into a single spine, in the second they are separated, as if fragments scattered over time. 
Grinda
The sculpture is a double metaphor. It recalls the whaling past of the archipelago, but also symbolizes its present: seven inhabited islands, like seven vertebrae. The whole ridge is their common history, the disjointed fragments are the unique spirit of each. Different, but inseparable. 
"Seven parts - one whole." This is the author's intention. And if you listen closely, in the noise of the ocean wind you can still hear the murmur of the whales that once gave life to these lands. 
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Pilot whales are friendly and very social creatures. They live in large schools, the number of which can reach several thousand individuals. It is also curious that the pilot whales are matriarchs. By the way, pilot whales, or black dolphins, are called pilot whales in English. At the same time, they are very average pilots. If a group of pilot whales runs aground, they will send an SOS signal to their relatives, who, having gone to help them, will themselves get stuck. It happens that the entire flock is washed ashore. Thus, in 2020, 500 pilot whales washed ashore on the coast of Tasmania, of which rescuers managed to return only a hundred to the ocean. 
