In trying to find walls, it’s sometimes hard to know what reference material to use. All the sources said that Young Gray Whale was no longer at the Ocean Institute but the Wyland site said it was at R. H. Dana Elementary in Dana Point while Wikipedia said it was at Concordia Elementary in San Clemente.
Since Dana Point is on the way to San Clemente (from Laguna Beach) we decided to head there first. As we got there late in the day the school was deserted so we looked around. We could tell there was no painting outside the school but what about inside? As there was no one to ask it seemed that the only option was to head down to San Clemente and see if we would have more luck there.
At Concordia we had a bit of luck. While we could quickly see there was no painting on the outside of the school we saw a group of kids playing and they told us there was a painting of a whale in the multi-purpose room. Too bad the MP room was locked. We felt pretty certain that we now knew the location of the painting.
The next morning we called the school and the very nice office administrator told us we were welcome to come see the painting. She was so nice to show us around and tell us the story of how it came to her school.
This also taught us that when we’re in doubt we should probably trust Wikipedia over other sources.
Ocean Institute Dana Point
Relocated to R.H. Dana Elementary
45 Feet Long x 10 Feet High
Dedicated March 20, 1982