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Boston's Museum of Science opened a new exhibit: Whales Tohorā. It invites you to dive into the world of whales.
The Museum of Science is one of the GeekDad mega-attractions in Greater Boston. A new exhibit is always a good reason to bring the geeklets back. And Whales Tohorā is a great reason to plan another visit.
To explain the size of the great whales, whale biologists point out that the heart of a blue whale is so big a person could crawl inside. Whales Tohorā takes that literally. There is model of a blue whale's heart you can climb inside, right through the aorta. By "you" I mean your kid. Not to say that a blue whale's aorta is not big enough for an adult. I could have squeezed through like an over-sized platelet. But I was afraid my girth would have crushed the kids coming in and out of the heart.
At the center of the biology part of the exhibit are two sperm whale skeletons, the male “Tu Hononga” and the female “Hinewainui”. Accompanying them is Search and Destroy, a dive with a sperm whale as he hunts fish and giant squid. The video is based on real scientific data taken from digital tags (D-tags) placed on sperm whales as they dive almost a mile below the water's surface. They are impressive eaters. One nugget of knowledge is that the sperm whale does not use its massive teeth to eat its prey. You'll have to check out the exhibit if you want to find out more.
In addition to the biology of whales, the exhibit celebrates the rich cultural history of the South Pacific islanders and their relationship with whales. There is a movie about the whale riders of New Zealand and a collection of artifacts crafted from whale bones.
Whales Tohorā includes is a collection of early whale fossils that trace the evolution of early whales as they adapted to living and feeding in the ocean. Ambulocetus natans and the later Kutchicetus minimus looked more like swimming rats, including long whiskers protruding from their nose, than whales. The skeleton and depiction of a Dorudon atrox look more like a step toward the modern whale.
Created by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Whales Tohorā has been to the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC, the Exploration Place in Kansas, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. It's in Boston from June 20 to September 14.
You can take a sneak peak of the exhibit in this video:
Since Boston is on the water, you can also combine the Whales Tohorā exhibit at the Museum of Science with a whale watch from Boston Harbor Cruises.
The Museum of Science was nice enough to treat my family to the exhibit, lunch and the Whales IMAX film.
Don't forget all of the other great exhibits. One highlight of the day was the sheer luck of visiting the chick hatchery just as a chick was breaking out of its shell and flopping into the world. My kids' faces were pressed up against the glass during the whole adventure of the chick.
Images and video courtesy of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Museum of Science.
