First impressions are vital for setting the tone of a visitor’s museum experience, which is why so much attention is paid to the objects people see as they enter a building. For many venues, the specimen of choice is a whale skeleton.
London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) opened its redeveloped Hintze Hall this summer, with a 25-metre blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling as its centrepiece. Given the name of Hope, the object has replaced the much-loved diplodocus skeleton cast called Dippy that was displayed in Hintze Hall from 1979 until January this year. Dippy will go on a tour of the UK, starting at Dorset County Museum in May next year.
So what does Hope offer that Dippy did not and what message is the NHM trying to give visitors by displaying the whale skeleton?
“‘Putting our blue whale at the centre of the museum, between living species on the west and extinct species on the east, is a powerful reminder of the fragility of life and the responsibility we have towards our planet,” says Michael Dixon, the director of the NHM. “It is within the grasp of humanity to shape a future that is sustainable and, now more than ever, we want our galleries and exhibitions to inspire a love of the natural world and our scientific expertise to inform solutions to the global challenges we face.”
The NHM is not alone in seeing the appeal of whale skeletons for museum visitors. The Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London recently held a Whale Weekender, where the public were invited to join conservators to help rebuild the institution’s largest specimen, a northern bottle-nosed whale skeleton. More than 800 people came over the two days to work on the eight-metre-long skeleton, which used to hang from the ceiling at Weston Super-Mare Museum before it came to the Grant Museum in 1948.
“The public really got into it,” says Jack Ashby, the manager at the Grant Museum. “Over the two days we managed to clean and rebuild the whole skeleton.”
One of those who helped was Bethany Palumbo, the conservator of life collections at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which conserved and redisplayed several whale skeletons in 2014 as part of the restoration of its Victorian roof. The specimens are now suspended in new positions.
There are a number of other museums where whale skeletons will be centre stage over the coming months. The redeveloped Museum of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, which has received a £1.8m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will reopen later this year with a 21-metre finback whale suspended from the ceiling in the new entrance. The whale is already in place and will be a central part of the museum’s publicity plans for the reopening, according to Polly Hodgson, the museum’s project manager.
In Carlisle, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is preparing to suspend a 14-metre juvenile finback whale skeleton from its atrium ceiling. The specimen was found on the west Cumbrian coast in 2014 and Tullie House acquired it after a public appeal. Simon Jackson, a curator at the museum, says the skeleton was buried in sand and compost for about 18 months so the soft tissue could decompose. He led a team of volunteers who cleaned, identified, documented and labelled the bones. The project is supported by Arts Council England’s Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material fund.
In 1966, the blue whale became the first animal in the world to be protected from hunting by international law. Since then, many other species of whale have been protected and numbers have recovered, although some are still endangered. The hope is that they will flourish in the wild rather than just become museum pieces.
Hope springs eternal
“Whales are incredibly mysterious and behaviourally complex creatures, as well as being the giants of the ocean. I remember visiting the museum as a child and being amazed when I came face to face with the blue whale skeleton.
Until 2015, it was hung alongside a model whale in the mammals gallery and wasn’t in full view, but in her stunning new home, where you can walk underneath and see her from all angles, she is even more spectacular. It is impossible not to be struck by the sheer scale and majesty of this beautiful creature as she dives towards you when you enter the museum.
My first encounter with the blue whale skeleton became a defining moment in my life and I am sure Hope will inspire a new generation of visitors to discover the story of life on Earth and be encouraged to want to protect the natural world.”
Richard Sabin is the collections manager, vertebrates, at the Natural History Museum in London
London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) opened its redeveloped Hintze Hall this summer, with a 25-metre blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling as its centrepiece. Given the name of Hope, the object has replaced the much-loved diplodocus skeleton cast called Dippy that was displayed in Hintze Hall from 1979 until January this year. Dippy will go on a tour of the UK, starting at Dorset County Museum in May next year.
So what does Hope offer that Dippy did not and what message is the NHM trying to give visitors by displaying the whale skeleton?
“‘Putting our blue whale at the centre of the museum, between living species on the west and extinct species on the east, is a powerful reminder of the fragility of life and the responsibility we have towards our planet,” says Michael Dixon, the director of the NHM. “It is within the grasp of humanity to shape a future that is sustainable and, now more than ever, we want our galleries and exhibitions to inspire a love of the natural world and our scientific expertise to inform solutions to the global challenges we face.”
The NHM is not alone in seeing the appeal of whale skeletons for museum visitors. The Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London recently held a Whale Weekender, where the public were invited to join conservators to help rebuild the institution’s largest specimen, a northern bottle-nosed whale skeleton. More than 800 people came over the two days to work on the eight-metre-long skeleton, which used to hang from the ceiling at Weston Super-Mare Museum before it came to the Grant Museum in 1948.
“The public really got into it,” says Jack Ashby, the manager at the Grant Museum. “Over the two days we managed to clean and rebuild the whole skeleton.”
One of those who helped was Bethany Palumbo, the conservator of life collections at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which conserved and redisplayed several whale skeletons in 2014 as part of the restoration of its Victorian roof. The specimens are now suspended in new positions.
There are a number of other museums where whale skeletons will be centre stage over the coming months. The redeveloped Museum of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, which has received a £1.8m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will reopen later this year with a 21-metre finback whale suspended from the ceiling in the new entrance. The whale is already in place and will be a central part of the museum’s publicity plans for the reopening, according to Polly Hodgson, the museum’s project manager.
In Carlisle, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is preparing to suspend a 14-metre juvenile finback whale skeleton from its atrium ceiling. The specimen was found on the west Cumbrian coast in 2014 and Tullie House acquired it after a public appeal. Simon Jackson, a curator at the museum, says the skeleton was buried in sand and compost for about 18 months so the soft tissue could decompose. He led a team of volunteers who cleaned, identified, documented and labelled the bones. The project is supported by Arts Council England’s Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material fund.
In 1966, the blue whale became the first animal in the world to be protected from hunting by international law. Since then, many other species of whale have been protected and numbers have recovered, although some are still endangered. The hope is that they will flourish in the wild rather than just become museum pieces.
Hope springs eternal
“Whales are incredibly mysterious and behaviourally complex creatures, as well as being the giants of the ocean. I remember visiting the museum as a child and being amazed when I came face to face with the blue whale skeleton.
Until 2015, it was hung alongside a model whale in the mammals gallery and wasn’t in full view, but in her stunning new home, where you can walk underneath and see her from all angles, she is even more spectacular. It is impossible not to be struck by the sheer scale and majesty of this beautiful creature as she dives towards you when you enter the museum.
My first encounter with the blue whale skeleton became a defining moment in my life and I am sure Hope will inspire a new generation of visitors to discover the story of life on Earth and be encouraged to want to protect the natural world.”
Richard Sabin is the collections manager, vertebrates, at the Natural History Museum in London