The whale is one of the ocean’s most beloved creatures. Whales are also the largest animal living in the seas, which makes essentially makes them kings and queens of the water. The whale’s tail, one of the most distinguishable features of a whale, also holds much meaning. The following article will tell you more about what that special meaning is.
The whale tail— also called its flukes—symbolizes strength and power: The whale tail holds special meaning for the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. The whale tail is often found in their culture as a symbol of strength, due to the power that the tail provides to the whale. Whales are the largest animal living in the sea, and their large tail muscle is a source of great strength. Just think of the sheer size and ability that tail requires just in order to support such a huge creature! The blue whale can grow to be 98 feet long, or roughly the length of a Boeing 737 plane. The flukes can reach 25 feet wide!
The whale tail symbolizes speed and agility: Whales can navigate through the vast ocean waters with ease, thanks to their tails. Their tails are the source of their speed. Whales move their tails up and down in order to swim forward, therefore their tails are what give whales the ability to accelerate, in order to catch their prey or avoid danger. Some whales can swim up to 140 miles a day, and this is all thanks to their hardworking tails, or flukes. Our Blue Whale Tail Necklace is a perfect representation of the flukes of the blue whale.
The whale tail symbolizes unity: When you look at the whale tail, you see two lobes that combine to form its flukes, the whale’s most powerful asset. Two becoming one is clearly illustrated when looking at the whale tail, and therefore it is often representative of unity in and of itself. The whale tail is also symbolic of the unity between humans and the sea. The tail is the whale’s most prominent feature, and therefore it is symbolic of the whale as a whole. Because whales are the largest animals in the ocean, they can be seen as the rulers of the oceans. Therefore, the whale tail is symbolic of the human connection to the sea: the unity of the most powerful land animal and the most powerful water animal.
The whale tail symbolizes protection and good luck: The Maoris believe that the first man came to New Zealand on the back of a whale. The whale delivered him safely to his new home, where he would grow to live and prosper, and therefore whales are commonly seen as protectors, and as bestowing good luck. Whales feature in the migration stories of many New Zealand tribes, and were seen as signs that the tribe should settle in a particular place. Furthermore, in Maori cosmology, whales are descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the oceans. The whale tail is still used in Maori culture as a symbol of all the protection and good luck the whales have bestowed.
Whale tail holds powerful symbolism and that’s why our whale tail jewelry makes such a meaningful gift. While the above covers some of the meanings of the Whale tail, you will make your whale tail jewelry your own. We want all of our jewelry pieces to become your cherished items for decades to come.
