Category: General blog

A poem against orca captivity from the book by Latsuna and Miya

One of the pages of the book of my friend Franck Latsuna "At the edge of man, illustrated poems", against captivity.

Creation and drawings

Hello everyone

When I contacted my hairdresser who took care of me in France, he often told me about my travel postcards and drawings sent to his workplace. All his clients had been sending him their travel memoirs for over thirty years without using the internet. That's what was so nice about receiving letters with beautiful stamps. One makes the effort to send a local trace through paper. My hairdresser keeps everything and has lots of souvenir albums neatly stored in his salon. Mine date back to the early 90's.

Often I put the postcard in an envelope and draw a sea mammal on the back. It's the same thing on the letter or card. Usually with a black or blue marker only. No other colors. At home I will use the full range of colors, but when I travel I can't because I don't have enough room in my luggage or the location doesn't allow the flexibility of an office.

I have always enjoyed drawing about the marine world. Old friends keep in their memory box letters I sent from the other side of the world and all have a personalized drawing.

During my graffiti years, the group of friends I belonged to each had a specificity. My job is to paint the letters and the background. But I was not able to transfer a sea mammal on a wall with a spray can. I was not strong enough to make the animal look identical and close to its natural environment. So I didn't insist and just did it on a drawing sheet.

There are colors that are found in my creations: blue, green and yellow, which determine exactly my desire for brightness and cheerfulness. I like bright colors as if I were swimming in a coral reef. And so much the worse if one does not find this landscape in real.

The dolphins and whales that I represent must show a fluidity in a movement similar to the marine current. The sea, the wind and the waves epilogue my wish to transmit to the public a power of absorption. It is necessary to dive into this trajectory of discovery for a fascinating world. My ecological and protective side of nature is paramount in the background atmosphere.

I use oil pastels, dry or greasy, colored markers of different widths, colored and paper pencils and black pens with thick and thin tips. The outline of each animal is in black. My observations at sea dictate my inspiration for my sketches.

Too often in the past I have read books with errors on the reproduced animal. I am not able to reproduce a marine animal in its natural environment, but I will not miss anything as distinctive signs. It is out of the question to evoke a panorama similar to the zoo and dolphinarium because I remain faithful to my convictions of not liking the captivity.  

I want to encourage curiosity to protect these cetaceans in their environment. It is not great art, nor the goal to sell them. You just have to appreciate my works and come to my side at sea.

Sincerely.

Terrebonne, Canada, February 2023.

Julien Marchal

Arctic helmsman

Five weeks in the Canadian Arctic on a cargo ship between October and November 2022. It was magnificent: Iceberg, the capital of Nunavut: Iqaluit, isolated villages including Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, polar landscapes, seals, etc...

Season 2022 in Canada

I had a good month on the water during the 2023 season totaling 104 cruises. We encountered some foggy days but overall the weather was good. I hadn't been back since 2016 as captain so I was very happy to be back on the boat.

Guide on whales and dolphins of Mauritius (1999)

I knew Delphine Legay in 1999 when I worked with her in Mauritius and Rodrigues. This guide is a nice tribute.

Whale season 2015, difficult on the water

Hello everyone,

I did no article about the 2015 season. The reason is simple: few whales and difficult season. Since 4 years we meet less whales on the water and this one was the worst! We had a difficult weather except in September and few "big whales". We had minke whales and grey seals every day. It happened sometimes that fin whales were found in groups of 1 or 2 but not more. Even the pictures of tourists are few. Let's not talk about humpback whales, only a few days...

Not everything was negative and I retain some positives for some of the trips. For example, this blue whale showing its tail at each dive, magnificent!
In any case there is less food in front of here and all the whales were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Frankly, only clients who have never seen whales were happy, the others less so.

Sincerely.

Canada, January 2016.

Julien Marchal

Diary of the 2010 to 2015 season with Essipit Cruises - :

They are coming for the 2013 season!

The summer season is about to begin and we are observing the first whales in front of our house!

Vacations in French Guiana !

Dear visitors,

I am back in Canada after a one month trip to French Guyana to meet the in-laws.

We visited many places, between the beach, the villages, Brazil, the takeoff of a rocket, and the tropical forest.....a beautiful country. Here are 3 pictures, the rest for the next time!

See you soon. Thank you for your time.

Les Bergeronnes, Qc, Canada - January 2013.

Julien Marchal

Vacations in French Guyana (January 2013)

I am back in Canada after a one month trip to French Guyana to meet the in-laws.

How whales make love (November 2012)

We men walk upright. To begin with, we raise our eyes to the blue sky above us, standing as straight as possible. Then we put one foot in front of the other, then the other, then the other, and so on, indefinitely.

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