From Noel Ashton's studio in Cape Town

Over the past few days I have been completing the final of the eight relief panels for around the base of the Sacred Ocean sculpture, of two Yangtze River dolphins swimming slowly together, and this has really brought home to me the importance of bringing into focus the plight of the world's whales and dolphins. Last year the Yangtze River dolphin was officially declared extinct, a blight on the record for marine conservation as this species could have been saved if co-ordinated planning and practical conservation measures had been put in place in time.

During discussions with Mark Carwardine** recently, he put this into perspective when he described the loss of this dolphin as happening "whilst we were on watch", a definitive statement that points the finger squarely at modern-day conservation. We live in an age of extraordinary technology, of satellites in the sky and communication at the speed of light, international conferences and signed conventions, but we still were not able to pull together and harness the energy required to save this important species. This is a warning that must not be silent, for it shows flaws in the system.

From Noel Ashton's studio in Cape Town

It is late in the evening and the studio is in complete darkness but for the single spotlight above the sculpting table. For the past few hours I have been working on the central piece for the Sacred Ocean sculpture, the two humpback whales that hang suspended from the bones, capturing a special moment as the mother and calf touch momentarily as they glide by. Times like these in the studio are very focused, my concentration aided by the fact that there are no distractions, no sounds, nothing intrusive, not even any reference notes. Those notes are in my head, gleaned from countless hours studying, watching and drawing humpbacks, so now my hands trace invisible lines as they search for the form in the clay.

From Noel Ashton's studio in Cape Town

Creating a sculpture of the size and complexity of Sacred Ocean involves a long and complicated journey. Initially the process is entirely creative, a beginning that involves the coming together of emotion, creativity and visualisation, as the form and meaning of the piece are originated entirely in the mind.

Then the process of drawing brings out the actual form onto paper — a lengthy process of exploration as the sculpture is brought into the light of day, where the internal images are laid down and the structure of the three dimensions worked out. It is one thing to imagine a sculpture like this, it is another to try to transfer the concept and structure into reality, and most of this occurs during this stage of drawing. Only after this process is completed can the physical journey of creating the three dimensional work begin, and to do this I needed first to visit the bones of the southern right whale that washed up near Cape Point a few years ago.

From Noel Ashton's studio in Cape Town

"For many years I have watched with horror and dismay as the whaling ships leave port and head towards the Southern Ocean Sanctuary in pursuit of whales. A shiver runs down my spine when I recall the deeply disturbing images of the hunt... of the harpooned whale thrashing in the water as it slowly dies, red blood in the blue water, tortured death-throws lasting up to an hour.

I am deeply disturbed by these events....

...and I am not alone. Around the world hundreds of thousands of people are horrified by these brutal actions, but they have found no single voice to speak of their feelings. I would like this sculpture to become their voice."

Noel Ashton, 2008

Sitting by the fire under a rising African moon, the concept of the Sacred Ocean sculpture came to me. To the ancient peoples of this vast continent, fireside times were opportunities to connect with the mysterious inner and outer beings, and to express this through stories, images and dance. For me that night was one of those rare moments when inspiration and creativity merged in a flash of focused energy; and with time the form of the sculpture was slowly borne out of the smoke and the sparks of the fire, and it finally became real when I grappled with large charcoal drawings in the studio. It was only when the sun returned that the image was complete, fought over and meaded, pulled slowly from the recesses of my wandering mind.