He is perhaps best known for his monumental Whaling Wall mural project — an epic series of life-size marine life murals that spans fourteen countries on four continents and is viewed by an estimated 1 billion people every year. The artist's efforts for conservation awareness, moreover, have been recognised by the United Nations, Sierra Club, Rotary International, the Underwater Academy of Arts and Sciences, where he is listed among its Diving Hall of Fame, and private and public institutions throughout the world.
Hailed a "Marine Michelangelo" by USAToday, Wyland's work is sought by millions of collectors and his equally successful Wyland Foundation, in partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is actively engaged in teaching millions of students around the world to become caring, informed stewards of our oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands.
Internationally recognised as an official artist for the 2008 United States Olympic Team, he has been further honoured in the Guinness Book of World Records, Who's Who in American Art, the U.S Department of Commerce / NOAA's 200th Anniversary Celebration, the Natural World Museum's "Art In Action" Campaign, and many national and international publications. His final 100th Whaling Wall, a 24,000 square foot series of murals with student artists from 110 countries, was displayed in October 2008 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and honoured by the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The multi-faceted artist has hosted several television programs, including, "Wyland: A Brush With Giants" on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet Network and "Wyland's Art Studio," a new series for public television. Today, he is considered one of the most influential artists of the 21st Century, with artwork in museums, corporate collections, and private homes in more than one hundred countries.