When depicted with whales, the Wasco (sea-wolf or sea creature) recalls a Haida story about a son-in-law whose supposed idleness concealed a powerful secret. In truth, he had skinned a Wasco and used its pelt to hunt, bound by a condition: he must return before the raven’s first cry. He kept the magic hidden, while his boastful mother-in-law claimed she had summoned the food through her own power. Pressured by her prideful promise that two whales would appear, he fought through the night to fulfill it. The son in law succeeded but arrived too late. As the raven cried, the spell unraveled: the whales were there, but he was dead. Here, Minaker-Russ captures a precise moment of tension: the Wasco and whales are locked in a strenuous battle. The raven has not cried and his outcome hangs in the balance.

We recognize the figure as Wasco through features common to Haida carving: a wolf-like head with bared teeth and extended tongue, a muscular body accented with fins and a curling tail, all conveying the hybrid force of land and sea. The upright, coiled posture is also a common feature used to illustrate the creature to illustrate its restrained power. Embedded within the composition are the two orcas, their bodies and dorsal fins so fluidly entwined with Wasco’s that they nearly vanish into the carving’s surface, revealed only through close observation.