The tricky part here is that the maker tackled two unfamiliar firing methods in one go, having never used a microwave kiln or raku before. That could easily end in a pile of shards, but the maker leaned on experienced hands: the glazes came from a friend who also guided the firing, and an experienced raku potter ran the session and supplied the kiln. Having that kind of backup on a first attempt seems like a sensible way to learn two techniques at once.
The whale itself is a small sculpted figure with a rounded body, a tail fin, pectoral flippers and incised eyes, plus a carved white underbelly with vertical grooves. Three glazes went on: a lustre blue over the body, a transparent one on the chin, and a white one for the teeth. Firing happened in an 850 watt microwave using a small kiln designed for microwave use, with each piece in there for 12 to 14 minutes before being thrown into wood shavings, following usual raku procedure.
Two details stand out to me. First, the finished surface is glossy and speckled with rust-red, dark blue and iridescent spots, and the maker feels lucky with how the glaze variation turned out. Second, for the lustre glazes the maker was told to let the fire get going before the lid goes on, and the small size of the pieces helped them stay hot longer, which seems to have worked in the maker's favour.
One thing worth flagging: the lustre reads more iridescent in real life than sunlight reveals. The maker is very happy with the results of this first firing, but judging colours in daylight may undersell the effect.