New at the Whale Museum

New things are happening at the Whale Museum and you’re invited to a sneak peek on Wednesday…

Suspending Sooke in the Case. L to R: Bill Pike steadies the wires as Albert Shepard and Matthew Gray Palmer install Sooke’s skeleton. Jill Berger/Whale Museum photo

Come see two new exhibits and the expanded exhibit hall.  After a six-week closure for renovation and exhibit installation, The Whale Museum will re-open on Thursday, February 14, with hours 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. We’d like to invite you to a Sneak Peek the afternoon prior (Feb. 13) from 4-6 p.m. Here’s some of “what’s new”:

• The exhibit hall has been expanded to the 1^st floor to increase exhibit space as well as accessibility.
• The Gift Shop is being redesigned to include stewardship messaging.
• Visitors will have two options when visiting the exhibit hall: turn left to see the new gallery on the ground floor or turn right to head up the stairs to the Gallery of Whales.
• On the ground floor, visitors will have the opportunity to see the newly unveiled exhibit on Sooke (L-112).  Sooke is the 3-year old Southern Resident orca found washed ashore at Long Beach, Wash. in February 2012.  After The Museum learned of her death, we requested her body come “home” to San Juan Island.  We hope that by telling her story people will be motivated to become more active stewards, thereby helping Sooke’s family.  In this way, her death will not have been in vain.  We are working with a team of professionals including Albert Shepard, Matthew Gray Palmer and Peter & Zach Chan, on the exhibit. Danielle Dean Palmer is creating a time-lapse video of the process.
• The new exhibit on the 2nd floor focuses on Gray Whales, telling their story from birthing to feeding grounds. The artistic talents of Eberhard Eichner of the ReStore in Bellingham were engaged to create the exhibit stand from re-purposed materials.

Many of you live far away and may not be able to make it to the Sneak Peek, but don’t worry — this is just the beginning! We are installing additional exhibits.  If you can’t come on Wednesday, just make plans to come sometime this year!

More information is available at www.whalemuseum.org.

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