This whale lives in the Natural History Museum of NYC. She’s 28.5 meters long, hung up on the roof, and it’s so comfortable to hang out under her.

There’s always people down there, and somehow the vibes down in that specific part of the museum are completely different than everywhere else. It’s almost a creative space; you get the sudden urge to listen to music, read a book, maybe even draw. I found an article on how they made the whale while looking for how long she is, and it just occurred to me that maybe she’s so inspiring because she’s a work of art herself.

So much work went into having her up there, and I’m not only talking about the people who actually designed, sculpted and painted the whale, but also the researchers who searched and searched until they found blue whales in the wild. The model currently in the Natural History Museum was created before the world had photos or videos of alive blue whales. Because of this, it was sculpted based on a dead whale that had washed up to shore in South America. In 2001 the Hall of Ocean Life was renovated, and so was the whale! Instead of making a whole new sculpture, it was retouched to look more like the living version. One of the big things they fixed was her color, making her the proper mix of blue, grey, and yellow.

So next time you’re under the whale, take a moment to appreciate how much work went and still goes into keeping her beautiful. And also appreciate the one steel pipe that holds her to the ceiling.

If you look back at my camera roll, I think this is the first spontaneous portrait shot I took. I honestly can’t remember if it was by mistake or not, but it became something I aim for when taking pictures.