Lunge-feeding Blue Whale, Beaty Biodiversity Museum
"the largest skeleton exhibit in the world suspended without external armature"
-UBC Public Affairs
-UBC Public Affairs
In 1987, a 26m female blue whale washed up on a remote beach on the northwest coast of Prince Edward Island and was buried. Twenty years later, the University of British Columbia acquired rights to recover the specimen, which was intended to become the main exhibit within the Beaty Biodiversity Museum's glass-surrounded atrium, showcasing the awesome biodiversity held within our oceans. Cetacea was asked to lead this endeavor due to a reputation for excellence in the field, specifically with logistically complex projects.
The Blue Whale Project had to meet substantial challenges right from the start, beginning with the fact that the 150 tonne carcass had hardly decayed and had sustained significant skeletal damage during its burial 20 years ago (see images from the recovery dig on YouTube). This was a multi-faceted project with media and educational focus throughout the stages of cleaning the bones, bone repair and preparation, articulation design and articulation through to final installation of the skeleton. The entire project was completed over two and a half years and some of the process can be seen on Discovery's feature-length documentary, Raising Big Blue.
Photos (clockwise from top left): left side of cranium; hyoid apparatus and throat; rib cage from behind; tail from behind; view from below; pelvic
girdle from below; right flipper; neck and throat from right side; left flank from behind (centre photo)
girdle from below; right flipper; neck and throat from right side; left flank from behind (centre photo)
This is the largest suspended skeleton in the world, mounted dynamically in Cetacea's signature style with an entirely internal armature, further hidden by artistically rendered cartilage. The articulation was carried out by scientists, based on careful documentation in the field and consultation with experts to ensure anatomical accuracy. All missing bones have been replicated and painted to match the original bone. Damage to the skeleton has been repaired with the exception of her left flipper, which tells an interesting story.
She has been postured, jaws partially agape, with flippers extended and guiding her through the water as she gives a powerful thrust of her tail. Imagine this largest creature known to live on earth just completing a surface lunge-feed, rolled over on her right side and about to descend to the depths below, engaged in the world's largest known biodynamic activity.
Although the cause of her death remains unknown, evidence from her substantially damaged skeleton suggests that she was likely struck by a ship, one of the main threats to large cetaceans.
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Blue Whale Exhibit, Beaty Biodiversity Museum, UBC Mike, Michi and Andrew Trites at Blue whale exhibit opening ceremony
There is no other large skeleton exhibit of this kind in the world. It has drawn thousands of visitors to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC since it opened in 2010. To learn more about this project and to visit this world-renowned exhibit and natural history museum, please visit the Beaty Biodiversity Museum's website.
Photos (left to right): Miya deRoos; Discovery documentary cast (Bob deRoos, Pierre-Yves Daoust, Sandra Keough, Andrew Trites,
John-Pietre, Jr., Michi Main, Mike deRoos, Jesse McBeath); Blue whale skeleton from below
John-Pietre, Jr., Michi Main, Mike deRoos, Jesse McBeath); Blue whale skeleton from below
Skeletons > Blue whale