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The group of mammals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises is call Cetacea, and the subject of my recent oil painting is the world’s smallest Cetacean, the Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), little porpoise that, at maturity, is less than five feet long. The Vaquita is found only in the waters at the northern end of the Gulf of California and is critically endangered, down to ten individual animals left, as of a 2022 estimate. The main threat to the species is another animal species found only in the Gulf of California, a large drum fish called the Totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), itself now an endangered species. I have shown a couple of them in the background. The problem is a demand by an Asian market for the swim bladders and meat of the Totoaba. The nets used to catch the fish caught, entangled and drowned the Vaquitas. The bladders are a delicacy in Chinese cuisine, and the bladders are mistakenly credited with treating fertility, circulatory and skin problems. Both Vaq...

Renowned Canadian bird artist, writer, naturalist, and conservationist, Barry Kent MacKay has “always been an admirer of birds, anxious to see them, paint them, and care for them.” Barry’s biological and ecological accuracy has put him in demand for commissions, to illustrate books, scientific journals and various print and digital media. He has painted birds and other wildlife from around the world, often life size, working in oils, watercolours, and acrylics. He prefers to sell original art, and keeps prices low. “Actual, original art should be affordable for middle class buyers,” he says. “I avoid having to depend on selling reproductions so that the market does not dictate what I paint, which can often be little-known...