through the eyes of the a70

This morning I got the news that the Beaty Biodiversity Museum is opening for the first time today in the first of its 5 summer previews so I headed on to UBC to check it out. The museum has been planned for many many years, and just started construction a few years ago. It incorporates the 6 major collections that the Department of Zoology maintains, including the Cowan Vertebrate Museum, which is dear and near my heart. The collections will be on display to the public later on in the fall – so the only major thing you can see is the large blue whale skeleton.

The Blue Whale, if you didn’t know already, is the world’s largest animal both on land and in water. So how do you just find a suitable dead blue whale just like that? It turns out that the whale was actually found over 20 years ago in PEI in 1987, and then they buried it, hoping that the flesh would just rot and they could collect the skeleton. Turns out that it preserved most of the flesh, and they had to go through a long process to find, excavate, transport, clean, and display it. It was called The Blue Whale Project. It was fascinating to learn about the blue whale and the project itself from professor, Dr. Andrew Trites, felt like I gained a wealth of knowledge today!

There are still 4 other chances to see it before the entire museum opens, go check it out if you’re on campus, the skeleton is amazing in person!