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2011, 05-27:
Report on Field Museum's exhibit: “WHALES: GIANTS OF THE DEEP”
On May 26-27, Chicago’s FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY held its 60th annual “MEMBERS’ NIGHTS”...
... There were various “BEHIND THE SCENES” areas open to the Members (as shown below via a photo of a live red-kneed Mexican tarantula held by one of the attendees)...
... In addition to that, we were also allowed to see the newly-opened special WHALES exhibit done in cooperation with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa which has a very outstanding collection of marine mammals...
... With the Field’s usual in-depth procedures, the exhibit (which will be open to the public thru January 16, 2012) gives extensive INFORMATION about the creatures-- their history, evolution, diversity and anatomy:
... Around 65 million years ago, Earth experienced its 6th or so mass extinction, & most species of DINOSAURS died out... As you can see by various skeletons shown in Field’s new exhibit, around 15 million years after that event, WHALES evolved around on the Earth as 4-legged HOOFED animals (as shown previously in a small display near the end of the “EVOLVING PLANET” exhibit on the Museum’s Upper Level)...
... In time (possibly partly as a better way to find adequate food sources?), that group of animals decided to return to the SEA... Little by little, their fairly small head became comparatively LARGE and studded with numerous teeth, & its legs started evolving into FLIPPERS, with its tail eventually transforming into flat flukes to better propel them thru the water...
... The WHALES exhibit has many informational plaques, showing how the whale family evolved thru various extinct relatives into a “family tree” consisting of porpoises, dolphins (most of which have “beaks”), and various WHALES (both well-known, barely-known and comparatively-rare “beaked” types)...
... Eventually, some of the largest of the creatures LOST their teeth & evolved a system of “BALEEN” wherein their mouths contain FILTER elements (plates) to sift tiny food like plankton (crustaceans known as krill, etc.) to eat (rather than consume large fish as their toothed relatives devour)... Thus, the 2 suborders of whales are baleen and odontoceti (meaning ones with TEETH)...
... As you travel thru the exhibit, you can see pictures of some of the fascinating creatures... Including the small HECTOR’S DOLPHIN (which is only around 5 feet – 1.5 meters – in length, as shown below)...
... Then, you can observe the LARGER dolphins (some of which can be seen performing in shows such as in the SHEDD AQUARIUM & BROOKFIELD ZOO)... Most of these have “beaks”, and they always have conical teeth tapering to fine points...
... In time, you’ll get to the ORCA (“Killer”) whales (some of which can be seen in SEA WORLD” type shows)... They’re quite social creatures (as are other dolphins), and often swim and even hunt together in packs...
... To the GRAY whales what migate more than 12,000 miles a year -- farther than any other mammal -- (& are at times “watched” by tourists off the Pacific coasts of California and Mexico)...
... To the HUMPBACK WHALE, a baleen type that has this planet’s longest “ARMS” (in the form of their front flippers)... They are also known for the “SONGS” they create and “sing” underwater...
(... There are at least 8 species of whales whose distinct sounds are known... They range from clicks to whistles to squeaks to buzzes to throaty rumblings [some below the range of normal human hearing] to melodic phrases)...
... To the largest living TOOTHED predator on the planet, the SPERM WHALE...
... You can see two school-bus-sized skeletons of these (1 female & a larger 58’ long Tū Hononga male that had been stranded onshore)...
... The sperm whale (named for its blubber fat that was one used for oil lamps) is the deepest-diving whale, seeking out giant squids at depths up to 6500 feet (2000 meters)... But, oddly, its teeth appear to be mainly used for FIGHTING (between males) rather than for chewing anything (in that it swallows things whole)!...
... To the LARGEST animal ever confirmed to have lived on the planet, the BLUE whale, which is the size of a 737 jet -- around 98 feet (30 meters) long & weighing about 180 metric tons...
... Its tongue could weigh more than some whole elephants... In the summer, a blue whale can eat up to around 4 tons (3600 kg) of krill each day...
... There’s a special life-size model of the HEART of the Blue whale, as big as a Volkswagen “Beetle” car (as seen below), and small kids are encouraged to climb THRU the model (which some happily did when I was there)...
... (Sadly, whaling has reduced the population of these huge creatures from around 275,000 to probably only between 2,000 to maybe 12,000 still left today. Most whaling of them has been BANNED since 1966)...
... There are various INTERACTIVE areas in the exhibit... You can “design” your own dolphin (by using streamlining and dynamically moving flippers, as shown below), and are able to listen to the VOICES of different whales...
... There’s a fine section showing how various of the toothed creatures have developed sonar-like ECHOLOCATION using sound to navigate (locate physical objects like rocks, cliffs, etc.), communicate & find food sources... Amazingly, some of the sound is transmitted to their ear areas thru FAT rather than “outer” ears...
... You can see a video of a sperm whale seeking out a SQUID, etc....
... In one area, you can learn of the interactions between PEOPLE and whales. There is an example of a whale named Paikea which, according to legend, “RESCUED” a man and let him ride to the coast of New Zealand, where he founded the Māori tribal group Ngāti Konohi... The hero adopted the whale’s name as his “own”...
... The “whale RIDER” legend can be seen depicted on the barge board sculpture below, from a Whitireia meeting house called wharenui...
... At times, people started to hunt certain whales, and periodically made OBJECTS out of whale bones & teeth that were caught or washed-up on shore-- such as artistic carvings of people and scenes...
... And items of JEWELRY, such as a “Koropepe” pendant (made between 1800-1900, as shown below). This is made from whale bone with red wax, & the name comes from a mythological creature with the body of an eel and the head of a bird...
... Such an ornament would be rare and worn by an “important” personage (in the Māori and other cultures). Thus, having it would be a sign of prestige and the owner’s “mana”...
... Another example would be a “heru” comb...
... And, as seen below, a cloak pin called an “aurei” (this one made between 1800-1900 of what’s probably a tooth from a sperm whale). When shaken as a rattle, such grandiose type items could indicate that a “Rangatira” (Māori leader) is a powerful and / or important / wealthy person...
... Another sign of affluence carried by a leader might be a feather CLOAK called a “kahu kiwi”, hand-woven of twistings made of muka flax + feathers from New Zealand’s native (flightless) kiwi bird. This item (shown in a 19th Century example below) signifies protection and warmth...
... In the weapon category would be a “Wahaika”. This sort of blade with a short handle (as seen below in a 1777 version which Captain James Cook collected) is made from whale bone and a shell called pāua. They usually have a carving of a human figure in the crescent portion...
... Items such as described above could be found in a treasure storehouse called a “pātaka taonga” (as symbolized below)...
... The Field Museum has a display of an entire 1881 “Wharenui” MEETING HOUSE from New Zealand’s Māori culture in Tokomaru Bay. This large item can be found at the end of the Upper level’s exhibits on “Pacific Spirits and Traveling the Pacific”...
... At one point, you can view a movie about humans who work trying to protect & save whales who (for various reasons, many of them unknown) tend to “BEACH” themselves on shores, showing how they often make extensive efforts to get them off the sand & back into the OCEAN... etc....
... All-in-all, a CAPTIVATING Exhibition that’ll give you a “WHALE” of a good time!...
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