Whale Tails (Teriberka)

Whale Tails is a public art installation on the Barents Sea shore in Old Teriberka, in the Kola District of Murmansk Oblast. Two steel tails rise from one of the old piers on Teriberka Bay, as if a pair of whales had just dived and waved goodbye.

The piece is officially called "Oceans". It was made by sculptor Alexander Khromykh, a graduate of the Stieglitz Academy of Art and Industry in St Petersburg and curator of the Nickel art residency. The tails are woven from stainless steel wire, chosen to stand up to salty sea air and harsh northern weather.

The sculpture was built in St Petersburg and shipped north. It was meant to be unveiled at the Teriberka Wave festival, but the 2020 festival was cancelled because of the pandemic, and the work was installed on 6 October 2020. The artist describes it as a tribute to a northern landscape where sky and ocean merge, and as a reminder of the environmental pressures on the Barents Sea and the need to protect its whales.

It quickly became one of Teriberka's best-known sights, and in high season visitors queue to take photos with the sea behind them.

Teriberka is about 120 to 130 km from Murmansk and is served by the oblast's only road to the Barents Sea coast, paved all the way. Scheduled buses, taxis and day tours run from Murmansk. In winter the road is often closed by blizzards, so check conditions before setting out.