In Pictures: The Natural History Museum’s Whale
Londoners were devastated when it was announced that Dippy (the plaster cast Diplodocus) was leaving London on a UK tour. However, his replacement has been turing a few heads and its sfae to say that the Natural History Museum’s Whale is a good fit.
The New View
This is what greets you upon entering the new layout of the Hintze Hall.
It’s the skeleton of a 25.2 metre female blue whale skeleton, made of 221 bones.
Compared to a dinosaur I was nervous that this skeleton would seem small suspended form the ceiling.
I was wrong.
So why ‘Hope’?
The whale was bought by the museum in 1891 for £250, after it washed up on an Irish beach.
At that time whales were being hunted to the brink of extinction and this was part of a turning point where it was decided that they should be one of the first species we decided we needed to save.
The museum sees Hope as ” symbol of humanity’s power to shape a sustainable future.”
Some of the best view of Hope can be see from the upper galleries…
And you never know what else you might spot!
And if you’re still not sick of looking at it, the museum created this amazing video…
Everyone loves a timelapse
Entrance to the Natural History Museum is free and its open daily from 10am – 5.50pm (the queues can be a little long but they move quickly). Closest station is South Kensington.
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