Let's Go Down Below...

October 2007

The majestic and elusive blue whale made a rare appearance at the Jersey Shore last month, floating peacefully in the ocean, her young calf by her side.

At 105 feet, this glorious gift of nature was a vision to behold, but David Dunleavy wasn’t satisfied with what he saw, and he aimed his paint gun directly at the eye of the creature.

The mother whale remained perfectly still while Dunleavy applied some paint; she didn’t even flinch as he did the same to her baby.

If you’re about to reach for the phone to call the Environmental Protection Agency, go right ahead; Dunleavy won’t mind a bit. In fact, stirring up emotion over marine life is exactly the kind of response he’s hoping for.

David Dunleavy is a wildlife artist, and the enormous blue whale floating serenely on the side of the Fudge Kitchen building at Eighth Street and the Boardwalk in Ocean City is not only his creation, but his gift.

Since 1994, when he painted his first mural in Cape May, New Jersey, David Dunleavy has been traveling the world, giving life to threatened and endangered marine animals through his artwork. His mission: to raise awareness among those of us on land about the beauty of what we don’t see under the oceans which hug our country’s shores.

For those living in coastal communities, it’s easy enough to view the ocean as ever unchanging. The tide comes in; the tide goes out. But it’s the glorious world teeming with life beneath the waves to which Dunleavy wants us to open our eyes. For it is in this world that some life exists in a most precarious balance, and if we the people don’t step up and really see what is hidden beneath the waves, some of that seemingly abundant life may disappear forever.

For that reason, Dunleavy takes his joint passions for marine life and art out on the road. To date, he has completed fifty-three murals, including the largest mural in the country of Australia, donating all of his time and services, with a goal of painting “one hundred murals, or however many it takes until I feel like I made a difference.”

All Dunleavy needs is a wall and an open mind. The former allows him to paint, the latter enables him to disseminate information concerning the endangered marine life he recreates on walls of wood or stone. With the assistance of local governments and organizations, Dunleavy encourages parents to involve their children in his project as he lays out a large canvas on which kids can paint. He combines the fun with facts in an effort to educate the younger generation about what we all need to do to protect the precious ecosystem under the sea.

An avid diver, the artist paints his murals purely from the memory of his dives or his research, using no outlines or grids on the walls. And instead of paintbrushes, he aims spray guns or air brushes at his subjects, using long, sweeping strokes for large sections and short bursts of air for finer details, applying vibrant colors to delight the eye. The completion of a mural can take anywhere from several days to several months, depending on the scope and complexity of the project.

Those of us who know South Jersey don’t have to be convinced of its natural, as well as man-made, beauty.

But as artist David Dunleavy proves, what we see above the waves is only part of the story. Check out Dunleavy’s magnificent murals in Cape May, Stone Harbor and Ocean City.

And open your eyes to what lies beneath.