A plaque installed with the work reads: "This sculpture symbolizes events pertaining to New Zealands's Southern Region. There is the legendary whale which severed Stewart Island from the mainland to create Foveaux Strait. The southern part of the South Island then became known as Murihiku or The End of the Land it symbolizes the earliest European colonisation by sealers and whalers and the Union Jack flag refers to European colonisation in general. The koru form refers to the Maori people it also states New Zealand's concern for the conservation of cetacean mammals."

This work was the winning entry of a competition run by the Invercargill City Council. The plaque also states that the work was: "Unveiled on the 3rd August 1990 by Her Worship The Mayor Eve Poole QSO. The help fo the following organisations in contributing towards this piece of sculpture is gratefully acknowledged: Southland Community Arts Council; COMALCO New Zealand; New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd; Invercargill City Council; Butlers Foundry Ltd; Southland Polytechnic; Southland Regional Arts Council."