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Whale Watching is meant to be a community outreach artwork that also brings awareness to our world's plastic problem.  The idea is to build community by bringing the work to community events and have people at the event apply collected materials (recycled bottle caps and other materials) onto the artwork.  Participating artists get to sign an artist page to be displayed with the final work.

Lessons Learned:

1.  Plywood Substrate:

Don't use a 4 x 8 ft piece of 3/4" plywood.  It's too heavy and requires at least 2 people to move it.  And requires strong people to move it to location events.  I've since learned of Wedi Board, and Kerdi Board.  These appear to be both waterproof and light weight.  I'll let you know on my next large project if they prove to be so.  I've also been advised to break the large mural into 2-3 parts, so they are easy to handle.

2. To make my plywood waterproof, I painted the entire substrate with several coats of polyurethane.  But later realized the waterproofing is compromised when I permanently mount the caps to the board with screws or staples.  I may choose to use a silicone adhesive next time on the Wedi Board or Kerdi Board so the surface doesn't become compromised.