Twenty tons of sand later, a whale of a sand sculpture bids farewell to the Pacific grays.

There was a 60-foot humpback whale on Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro on Saturday but, fortunately, it was not in need of rescue.

The gigantic sea creature was a life-size sand sculpture created by participants in the 19th annual Whale Fiesta, sponsored by the Cabrillo Marine Museum and the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society.

The event is timed each year to bid farewell to Pacific gray whales as they complete their northward migration, according to John M. Olguin, a longtime director of the museum who retired two years ago and has remained active on its behalf.

An enthusiastic band of children and adults began shoveling sand into a huge pile at about 10 a.m. Directing the crew was veteran fiesta participant Bill Samaros, who teaches marine biology at Carson High School. Several of his students watered the sand--about 20 tons of it would go into the sculpture--with fire hoses so that it could be more easily compacted and shaped.

To give fiesta-goers an idea of the size of the blue whale--the largest animal on Earth--planners drew a blue outline on the parking lot. (The blue whale averages 75 to 80 feet in length and weighs 110 tons.) Inside was a red Volkswagen bug, showing the size of the whale’s heart.

By about 1 p.m. the hump, fins and tail of the humpback sculpture had emerged. The work was completed by mid-afternoon, and workers gathered around as the whale was photographed from the air.

Rather than showing the whole whale, the sculpture featured the whale’s head and tail, as if it were coming up for air. “There was a lot less sand to dig that way,” explained Olguin.