A bronze sculpture of 'Pilgrim and calf' by renowned artist Geoffrey C. Smith. Purchased and gifted to IFAW by Board member and passionate wildlife conservationist Barbara Birdsey, will begin a series of visits to institutions and museums up and down the east coast with the goal of raising awareness for a species which only a century ago numbered in the tens of thousands. The Museum is honored to be the first stop, with ‘Pilgrim and calf’ on display in our front hall.

Depicting the ongoing struggle for survival of this mother and calf pair, the sculpture itself was inspired by an actual sighting of ten-year-old Pilgrim and her young offspring by the sculptor himself off the coast of Florida in 2022. The experience inspired the artist to begin a creative pursuit to draw attention to the incessant struggle for survival of a species that is estimated to hover around 340 individuals, driven to near-extinction by anthropogenic causes including vessel strikes and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. Well-known to both the scientific as well as broader communities, the mother-calf pair has often come to symbolize the struggle for survival of a species which researchers confirm is perilously close to extinction with fewer than 70 reproductively active females remaining.

Currently, IFAW is working collaboratively to remove the species from the road of extinction and place it onto a road of recovery. The three-pronged strategy includes encouraging both reductions in ship speeds and a shift in shipping lanes outside of the migration corridors of the species, advocating for long-term maritime legislation such as the Right Whale Coexistence Act, and potentially the most important of all, introducing innovative fishing/lobstering technologies that minimize the need for vertical rope in the water column. The resultant lobster caught using such technologies is described as “whale-safe”.