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Wyland born July 9, is an American artist and conservationist best known for his more than Whaling Walls , large outdoor murals featuring images of life-size whales and other sea life to call attention to the plight of whales throughout the world. His connection with whales began when he was 14 on a visit with his family to Laguna Beach, California where he saw the ocean for the first time and witnessed several gray whales migrating down the California coast towards Mexico.

In he moved to Laguna Beach and in painted his first The Whaling Wall mural on the large wall of a Laguna Beach hotel parking lot. This original mural was obliterated in when it was painted over in a property ownership dispute. In , he founded the non-profit Wyland Foundation "to help children rediscover the wonder of the ocean through art" according to Steve Creech, the foundation's President and to finance his Whaling Wall murals.

Wyland's largest ocean mural sets an international record of over three acres in area, on the exterior of the Long Beach Convention Center. Wyland's th Whaling Wall was painted in Beijing in His foundation has since expanded its work to include other environmental initiatives such as sponsorship of the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation.

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By , his commercial work sold through Wyland Galleries LLC and licensed merchandise sold at zoos and other outlets had become a multimillion-dollar business supporting both his galleries and his non-profit endeavors for the conservation of coasts and waterways. His artwork has been featured on California and Florida specialty license plates as well as on a series of four United Nations stamps issued in to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

After spending the first half of his career focused on drawing attention to marine mammal conservation, Wyland, along with co-author and frequent environmental collaborator Steve Creech expanded the focus of the Wyland Foundation to raise awareness about issues affecting U.