Up close with the Earth’s biggest animals
New ROM exhibition features whales from Canada’s East Coast
The Royal Ontario Museum has decided to go big for its reopening — whale-sized big.
The exhibition, called “Great Whales: Up Close and Personal,” and running to March 20, features expertly preserved skeletons of three species of whales found in Canada’s East Coast waters, including the sperm whale, the North Atlantic right whale and the blue whale, the largest animal to have ever existed on the planet.
It also features an actual heart of a blue whale, preserved by a German company using a process called plastination, as well as exhibits looking at feeding, conservation and the evolution of whales, which features fossil casts of whales’ evolutionary ancestors. (You’ll never guess which modern day animals are their closest relatives.)
Assistant curator Burton Lim, who worked with a team of six to assemble the elements of the exhibition, said the time is right for humans to learn about whales as they face unprecedented challenges in nature.
“All species of whales are endangered to a certain extent. Some vulnerable, some are endangered, some are critically endangered,” Lim noted.
“Even though they’re the biggest animals around, they’re also some of the most mysterious. Even scientists have trouble studying them. So we don’t know basic information like where do all the different species mate, where do they feed, how long do they live? We have very little hard information,” Lim said, adding it’s only in the past 20 years that scientists
“Even though (whales are) the biggest animals around, they’re also some of the most mysterious.”
BURTON LIM
ASSISTANT CURATOR
have been able to track their evolutionary path.
Lim himself was part of a team of 10 who recovered the skeleton of the blue whale, which washed up dead near Trout River, N.L., in 2014.
“(It) took 10 of us six days working 12-hour days. It was a lot of work … smelly work. But it’s amazing after about five minutes, you just ignore it,” he said.
The museum closed on March 16, 2020, at the onset of COVID-19 before reopening in July. It closed again on Nov. 23.
Sue Fruchter, director for museum operations, said doors opened to the general public on Saturday.
The museum, restricted to 50 per cent capacity, has taken measures to ensure appropriate physical distancing and Fruchter urges people to book tickets online for timed entry. If there is space, walk-ins without a set visit time will be admitted, she said.
During the shutdown, the museum dramatically expanded its online content, with 165,000 students and teachers taking part in “virtual tours.” An additional 400 schools were added to the museum’s roster, Fruchter said.
“We’ve done a lot to make people feel safe and comfortable and excited about returning,” she said.
“I think people are tired of looking at screens. Now they get to see the real thing and there’s nothing that can replace that. That’s what museums can offer.”
Two other new exhibits will also be part of the reopening, including “Elias Sime: Tightrope,” featuring the large scale artworks of the Ethiopian artist. The 23 artworks are constructed of “found” materials, including motherboards, circuits and electrical parts. It runs till Sept. 6.
“The Cloth That Changed the World: India’s Painted and Printed Cottons,” features textiles that have not been exhibited in 50 years.