Seattle Times sketch artist Gabriel Campanario, otherwise know as the Seattle Sketcher, turned his attention earlier this week to the efforts of 87-year-old John Hurley to restore the deteriorated driftwood orca that had been removed from Brackett’s Landing beach in March. My Edmonds News broke the news of the orca sculpture’s removal here.

Hurley, a retired electrician and Lynnwood resident, has kept busy making art out of driftwood, rocks and old log booms since he donated the Orca piece to the city in 1994, Campanario said, and is now working on the beloved whale:

Hurley has had to repair the whimsical whale before — it’s already on its third fin, he said — but the current restoration has been “back breaking.” I watched him kneel down and lay on his back several times as he applied coats of cement that will prevent further water damage.

Once he’s finished in a week or so, he’ll turn it back over to the city so people can continue to enjoy what he calls “a piece of my Northwest.”

You can read more and see all of Campanario’s sketches here.