Conny, a life-size 20-ton ferro-cement sculpture of an adult male sperm whale, was a familiar fixture on the grounds of The Children’s Museum and Gengras Planetarium located on Trout Brook Drive in West Hartford, Connecticut.

 

Conny was constructed in 1975-1976 entirely by volunteer labor under the guidance of the predecessor organization of the Cetacean Society International (CSI). Conny symbolized the group’s effort to “save the whales,” rather than hunt them. Upon Conny’s completion, WTIC radio personality Bob Steele proclaimed the effort to be “the biggest amateur construction job since Noah built the Ark.”

 

Also in 1975, CSI successfully petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly to designate the sperm whale as the state’s official animal.

 

Conny’s legacy continues today as a constellation that inhabits a region of the sky known as the Waters Edge. Together with other popular constellations such as Aquarius (the water bearer), and Pisces (the fish), Conny belongs to a grouping of constellations that include Andromeda, Auriga, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum.

 

Did you know you can actually view the constellation from your own backyard? Conny, aka Cetus, the Whale, is one of the largest constellations in the northern hemisphere. The constellation is best viewed in the Winter appearing low on the horizon in the southerly direction shortly after sunset, you can track the constellation as it slowly rises into the evening sky.

 

The constellation includes eight formally named stars, as approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), including Axólotl, Baten Kaitos, Diphda, Kaffaljidhma, Menkar, Mira, Mpingo, and Felix Varela.

 

Conny the Whale will live on as “the mascot in the stars” for the new Planetarium and Astronomy Museum. Who knows? Maybe one day, a new model will be constructed from the 3D digital scans preserved by CSI.