Street Whales

On the corner of Humboldt and Government Streets is this fanciful bit of topiary art, an Orca (Killer Whale) and her calf shaped in plants. That's the Fairmont Empress Hotel in the background.

On the Back of a Whale

A fairly common form of public art these days is paintings on the exteriors of animal sculptures distributed around the city. I don't know enough about urban politics or art to understand why this has become popular. Perhaps someone can explain it. Victoria's animal choice is the Orca or killer whale and the people in the painting above are on the back of the whale in front of Victoria Visitors Information Centre. Whatever the rationale for this installation I am happy to see so much colour in this season's gray streets. (Added later: click here to see a bunch of urban cows in Madrid.)

I suspect the Orca has been chosen because whale-watching is a popular tourist pastime here. Victoria is one of the few cities in the world where you can view whales in their natural habitat within a half an hour from the Inner Harbour. There are about 15 pods of Orca that live in the area and numerous whale-watching excursions available year round.