About 100 people gathered at Sunset Lake in Oak Bluffs Saturday for the unveiling of a statue dedicated to beloved Island naturalist Gus Ben David, who died last year at 81.

Mr. Ben David was the former director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and founded the Osprey Project, which is the reason so many osprey call the Vineyard home today. He was born in Oak Bluffs and now a statue of an osprey in flight watching over the lake in his hometown will forever honor him.

Local artist Barney Zeitz created the statue.

Anne Whiting, president of the Gus Ben David Foundation, thanked the community for its support in funding the project.

Ann Whiting, in blue, addresses the crowd on Saturday morning at Sunset Lake.

Jeanna Shepard

Ann Whiting, in blue, addresses the crowd on Saturday morning at Sunset Lake.

Jeanna Shepard

“We all know how special Gus was to this Island,” Ms. Whiting said. “He answered everyone’s questions with enthusiasm and care, and it didn’t matter whether it was a mammal, a bird, an insect, a sea creature or a pond creature. It didn’t matter whether you were a three-year-old or in your 90s. He answered because he wanted people to understand and appreciate the natural world.”

When attendees first gathered Saturday, it was a gray morning, damp with rain. But soon after the ceremony began, warm sunlight burst through, prompting many to peel off their raincoats and put away their umbrellas.

Several people came forward to reflect on Mr. Ben David’s contributions to naturalism and Island life. Osprey expert Rob Bierregaard, who worked closely with Mr. Ben David for decades, told the crowd that the local osprey population had been in a huge decline before Mr. Ben David began working to restore it in the 1970s. The birds would often roost on electrical poles, so people would knock down their nests to protect the power supply.

But when Mr. Ben David began putting up separate poles designed specifically for the birds to roost, the population began to climb.

“There were two nesting pairs of osprey on Martha’s Vineyard in 1971,” Mr. Bierregaard said. “Now, there are 140.”

Mr. Zeitz also created a plaque to go with the statue.

Jeanna Shepard

Mr. Zeitz also created a plaque to go with the statue.

Jeanna Shepard

But before Mr. Ben David became a generational naturalist, Ms. Whiting said, he was an “Oak Bluffs kid.” The foundation chose Sunset Lake for the statue so its visitors could honor his memory in the town he loved.

Mr. Zeitz forged the stately bird out of welded stainless steel. At its new lakeside spot, it is positioned flying east so that the sun will rise in front of it and set behind it.

Mr. Zeitz also created a dedication plaque, based on a photograph by Tim Johnson. In the photo, Mr. Ben David looks up thoughtfully at his adopted golden eagle Chameli, perched on his arm with outstretched wings.

“Gus Ben David was Martha’s Vineyard’s master naturalist for 70 years,” the plaque reads. “His devotion to nature, education, and wildlife management is legendary. His legacy is seen in every osprey nest on this Island.”

Below, a quote from Mr. Ben David reads: “There is one universal religion. It is called kindness.”

Mr. Zeitz first forged the statue in 2012, and it lived for many years in his yard in Vineyard Haven. He had hoped to show it to Mr. Ben David.

“I said, we have to get Gus down here and we never did,” Mr. Zeitz said.

But now, the statue and Mr. Ben David’s memory have been permanently united. Mr. Ben David’s daughter, Phaedra Ben David, said she will cherish the physical reminder of his legacy.

“We were all blessed to know him during our lifetimes,” she said. “Because of this, he will live on eternally.”