The Blue Whale Heart

The work grew from Sesti's fascination with oceanography, anatomy and scale, and from the remarkablepreservation of a blue whale heart by mammalogy technician Jacqueline Miller and scientists at theRoyal Ontario Museum. Encountering the preserved organ opened a rare view into the physical workings of the largest creature on Earth and became the scientific point of departure for the sculpture.

Sesti developed the project through a series of sculptural studies and international presentations, translating anatomical research into a monumental form. At the centre of the work is a simple poetic idea: to return the heart to the ocean.

In 2026, Heart of Okeanos will be deployed off South Beach, Miami. There, its pH neutral mineral surface and protected interior will begin to support marine colonisation and shelter as the sculpture becomes progressively integrated into the reef around it. Locally grown corals will be attached directly tothe work after deployment.

The sculpture will be dedicated by Sesti to pioneering oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle, whose lifetime of exploration, conservation and advocacy has transformed public understanding of the world beneath the sea.

Made in Miami, the work forms Phase 2 of REEFLINE, a pioneering underwater cultural and ecological corridor off the coast of Miami Beach