WHALE of a Summer at Bishop Museum in 2008
Family Sunday Program June 22; 9am -5pm;
$3 Residents & Military
WHALES: WONDERS OF THE OCEAN, a traveling exhibit by WonderWorks, will be making its way to Hawaii for summer 2008, opening May 17 and remaining on view through September 21, 2008. The exhibit tells the 54-million-year-old story of whales, from their early life on land to their journey back to the sea. Visitors will see an ample share of toothsome prehistoric beasties, including six robotic whales and dolphins. This presentation is sponsored in part by Wyland Waikiki, NOAA’s Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and Bank of Hawaii. Normal museum admission applies, except on Family Sunday, June 22, when Hawaii residents and Military with ID are offered reduced admissions of $3 per person.
Life-size robotic whales in the exhibit illustrate the major categories of whale origins, adaptations and behavior from feeding and reproduction to swimming, vocalization, respiration and diving. The exhibit will feature full-sized robotic versions of a Baby Gray whale, Humpback whale, and an Orca, and static heads of a Northern Right whale and a Sperm whale. This exhibit offers an educational encounter that can’t be duplicated.
Whales are the descendants of land living mammals of the Artiodactyl order. Whales are the closest living relatives of hippos! They both evolved from a common ancestor at around 54 million years ago. Whales entered the water roughly 50 million years ago. These cetaceans are divided into two suborders: Baleen whales which have a sieve-like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin that is used to filter plankton; and toothed whales which have teeth and prey on fish and squid.
Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, and feed their young milk from mammary glands, and have some hair. Whales breathe through blowholes located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged. Baleen whales have two blowholes, while toothed whales only have one. Whales have a unique respiratory system that lets them stay underwater for long periods of time without taking in oxygen. Sperm whales are known to stay underwater for up to two hours holding a single breath!
Whales live from 40 to 200 years, depending on their species, but it is rare to find one that lives over a century. Whale flukes are often used to identify whales and they communicate with each other using lyrical sounds. Being so large and powerful, whales sounds are extremely loud and can be heard for many miles.
The exhibit features several participatory stations where visitors can learn to identify whales the way scientists do; by their songs, their markings, their fins and tails, and their behavior. The six large motorized creatures on exhibit operate on air pressure and were constructed in Los Angeles. Andrewsarchus will be one of the motorized creature to greet visitors. This hairy, ugly, land-dwelling mammal with a snout is included in the exhibit because it belongs to a group of primitive carnivorous land mammals dating back 50 million years, which scientists believe may have been the predecessors of whales. The subsequent displays feature a tail-waving orca, a lanky basilosaurus, and the Atlantic White-sided dolphin with a calf, among others. Inside each creature is an aluminum and steel robotic skeleton.
The movements of the robotic whales are controlled by a computer mounted in the creature’s base. The computer regulates the flow of compressed air through a series of air lines and valves to various cylinders. As air is forced through the system, it causes the piston inside each cylinder to move in and out. Large cylinders are used for tail and flipper movements, while small cylinders are used for the eye and mouth movements. A sound system, controlled by the same computer, is mounted in the base and is used to create life-like whale sounds. The skin is made from thick foam with a flexible elastimer coating that shows all the bumps and folds of the full-size clay sculpture. The whales’ creators have gone to great lengths to make the exhibit as authentic as possible, including putting lice and barnacles on some of the whales and even the sounds of the thumping whale heartbeat.
“Whales have a certain mythical quality. They are symbolic of the environment and whale lovers are intrigued by their intelligence, their size, and they communicative abilities,” says Mike Shanahan, Bishop Museum Education Director.
The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will be augmenting Bishop Museum’s presentation by providing activity and coloring books, special display panels and recordings of whale songs, and examples of whale lice, bones, and baleen samples, and a humpback brain. Sanctuary members will also attend the Whales Family Sunday program for this exhibition set for June 22 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Family Sunday programs at Bishop Museum offer reduced admission of $3 for Hawaii residents and members of the Military with ID. Other activities at Family Sunday include rides, food booths, and keiki programs.
For more information about Whales: Wonders of the Ocean, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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