SAN DIEGO
It’s a whale of an exhibition – literally.
“Whales: Giants of the Deep,” an exhibition with multiple participatory activities that will be at the San Diego Natural History Museum through Sept. 5 covers the most recent research on the largest creatures ever to inhabit the planet, whale biology, efforts to save whales from extinction because of indiscriminate hunting and the history of whaling in New Zealand.
Printed and audio information at stations throughout the 7,000-square-foot exhibit are in English and Maori, the language of South Pacific island inhabitants whose culture and long history is intimately entwined with whales. The Maoris are thought to have sailed to New Zealand from East Polynesia starting around 1250 A.D.
The specimens are on loan from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa whale collection, one of the largest in the world. The San Diego Museum of Natural History, known as the NAT, supplements the cetacean theme with permanent exhibits in other areas of the museum.
“Our fascination with and affinity for whales was one of the many reasons we decided to bring ‘Whales: Giants of the Deep’ to San Diego,” Michael Hager, president and CEO of the NAT, said in a release. “The exhibition allows guests to explore these magnificent creatures with a series of informative and hands-on exhibits that allow you to take a deeper dive into our vast oceanic ecosystems. It also gives us the opportunity to highlight the whale research we’re doing here at the museum.”
Visitors get an early orientation to the whale world, which includes dolphins and porpoises, through a wall chart that pictures them in relative size
Efforts to protect whales receive ample coverage. Whale populations were facing extinction by the middle of the 20th century when diesel-powered vessels and harpoons with exploding heads gave them little chance to escape, as they had when whalers traveled under sail or in steam-powered ships. Once aboard a modern “factory” ship, a 100-ton whale can be reduced to end products in about 30 minutes. An international convention – frequently violated – now regulates whaling.
A skeleton of a sperm whale, the largest toothed predator of the deep, which is suspended overhead, gives an idea of the immense size of some whale species. The whale was more than 58 feet long and would have weighed 60 to 70 tons. (Elephants top out at about 7 tons). The whale was one of 12 stranded in New Zealand.
Whales can be beached by extreme weather, receding tides, chasing prey into shallow water, run-ins with ships, old age or pollution. Early-day Maoris considered beached whales a gift because they were a source of meat, oil, fat, ivory and bone.
The true-size model heart of a blue whale is a favorite with young children because they can crawl into the interior through an artery. Blue whales, the largest animal ever, can reach almost 100 feet in length and weigh up to 165 tons.
Another popular stop is a sound chamber where visitors can listen to the squeaks, whistles, rumbles, clicks and buzzes of whale species.
On Level 2 of the museum, a 3.5 million-year-old skull of a fin whale found in the Chula Vista area immediately south of San Diego is on display. The skull of an 80-foot-long, 80-ton fin whale is found on Level 1. Two 3-D movies about whales are being shown twice a day until May 27 when a third showing will be added.
A gift shop is loaded with whale-themed books, clothing, jewelry, games and toys.
The whale exhibition is one of the NAT’s major productions, in keeping with the quality of recent exhibits, among them artifacts from the ill-fated Titanic, the recovery of sunken pirate gold, King Tut and the Mayan empire.
Next up is “Animals: Machines in Motion” that will run Oct. 8 through Jan. 1, 2017.
Dale Rodebaugh is a former staff writer for The Durango Herald. He now lives in San Diego.
