Monday 27 November 2017

The blue whale in Hintze Hall in Natural History Museum

The Museum has named the female blue whale Hope, as a symbol of humanity's power to shape a sustainable future. Blue whales were hunted to the brink of extinction in the twentieth century, but were also one of the first species that humans decided to save on a global scale.
The whale will be joined in Hintze Hall by hundreds of new specimens and 10 star specimens chosen to celebrate the wonder and beauty of the natural world, from the origins of the universe to the story of evolution and diversity in the world today.
 
































The skeleton now on display in Hintze Hall is from a whale that became stranded in 1891 in Wexford Harbour, Ireland, 10 years after the Museum opened in South Kensington. It was bought by the Museum and first displayed in the Mammal Hall in 1934, where it was suspended above a life-size model of a blue whale, though it was not in full view. 
Richard Sabin, the Museum's leading whale expert, says:
'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 we are now unveiling in Hintze Hall.






















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