The exhibit “Whales: Giants of the Deep” open Saturday at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets to the exhibit are included with admission to the museum; $18 adults; $17 students/seniors; $16 children ages 3-12; free for children ages 2 and under and free for Museum members. Annual family memberships begin at $120.
More sea creatures are on display at Fernbank in the IMAX® film “Journey to the South Pacific,” which takes viewers to the tropical islands of remote West Papua and introduces them to whale sharks, sea turtles, manta rays and other marine life. Value Pass admission includes tickets to the Museum and one IMAX film at $26 for adults, $24 for students/seniors, $22 for children, $8 for Museum members and free for toddlers ages 2 and younger.
Fernbank Museum of Natural History, 767 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta. For tickets and visitor information, 404-929-6400; fernbankmuseum.org.
The sperm whale skeletons on display in the Fernbank Museum’s new exhibit, “Whales: Giants of the Deep,” are not to be considered artifacts, but personalities, said exhibit interpreter and tattooed Māori tribe member Mark Sykes.
These whales are individuals, he said, with names and histories, and they are worthy of respect. The senior citizen female, who was probably 70 when she died, stranded on a beach, is called “Hinewainui,” a tactful term that could be translated “woman of a certain age.” The adolescent male, who lived only to about age 18, is called “Te Hononga,” meaning “traveler.”
“We consider them living things,” said Sykes of the immense skeletons — each is longer than a school bus — that form the centerpiece of the show that opens Saturday.
As the “matauranga” or guardian of the New Zealand objects that make up this show, Sykes accompanies the display on its journeys around the world, certifying that installers treat the exhibits with care, which means they must refrain from bringing food into the hall and from using bad language.
It takes about two weeks to mount the show in each new museum and as the installers work to erect the displays, they begin each morning with a brief prayer, or “karakia,” acknowledging the whales, asking for their protection and reassuring them.
“They are a long way from home, as are we,” said Sykes of himself and fellow New Zealander Pat Stodart.
The Fernbank show is as much about Māori and New Zealand culture as it is about whales and Sykes, with his dark hair, tiki necklace and elaborately tattooed arms, is New Zealand personified.
Sykes comes from the Ngati Porou tribe, located on the east coast of the northern island. His tribe traces its roots to a mythical ancestor named Paikea, who rode to New Zealand on the back of a whale.
The 2002 movie “Whale Rider” used that mythological underpinning for a contemporary New Zealand story and today’s Māori do the same, incorporating traditional image and ceremony into modern life.
At the entrance to the Fernbank exhibit is a ceremonial carved arch, or “Maihi,” topped by the figure of the whale rider. Such a pediment would be found at the entrance to the meeting house in a traditional village.
Beyond this gateway, visitors learn how the whale permeates New Zealand culture, from the Māori who held the whale in reverence — but also used stranded whales for food and tools — and the European settlers, who came to the island to make a fortune in the whaling industry.
They also see an exhibit on the highly endangered right whale, which is part of Georgia’s own whale population. Among the exhibits:
- Children can climb inside a replica of the heart of a blue whale, the largest animal that has ever lived. The replica is the size of a Volkswagen and can hold up to eight kids at a time.
- A circular theater of sound reproduces the songs made by almost every whale species in the ocean.
- An arched gallery displays the remarkable weapons, jewelery and other daily objects carved out of whalebone by Māori artisans.
- Visitors can see an animated film showing a sperm whale's pursuit of a giant squid. The mini-theater incorporates one of the life-sized plastic whale models used in the movie "Whale Rider."
As expected, Fernbank also gives attention to the science of whales.
Visitors can see the fossilized skeletons of a series of prehistoric mammals that were the ancestors of whales.
“Kids don’t realize that whales evolved from land animals that went back to the ocean,” said Becky Facer, programs manager of environmental education at Fernbank. Facer pointed to the skeletons of Ambulocetus (“walking whale”) and Dorudon (“spear tooth”) on display and called attention to the hind feet that would eventually become vestigial organs in their modern descendants.
This exhibit was developed by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and is enriched by its remarkable marine mammal collection.
New Zealand banned whaling in 1964 and New Zealand protesters have been active in the anti-whaling movement, which is also documented in the exhibit. The bloody and grim nature of whaling, ancient and modern, is treated thoroughly, but dispassionately.
The exhibit also examines the strange phenomenon of stranding, which is still not understood. A hopeful note prevails here: A large exhibit shows how humans can use new, inflatable pontoons to help stranded pilot whales back into the ocean.
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