If you ever get the chance to see the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s “Whale Bone Repository” up close \u2014 your eyes aren’t deceiving you. What you’re seeing is in fact real!<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s the largest collection of its kind in the world: An entire cache of massive 20-feet-long whale skulls, 70-foot spines, giant flippers and much more.<\/p>\n
If you ever get the chance to see the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History\u2019s \u201cWhale Bone Repository\u201d up close, your eyes aren\u2019t deceiving you, what you\u2019re seeing is in fact real!<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s episode of \u201cMatt About Town,\u201d we\u2019re continuing our exploration of the National Museum of Natural History\u2019s Museum Support Center, the museum\u2019s remote, secure campus in Suitland, Maryland. At the center, the Smithsonian holds all the items rotating in and out of display at the actual museum in D.C.<\/p>\n
The support center also houses several other research collections aside from whale bones, which remain here, and offer one of rarest behind-the-scenes glimpses into the lives of these giants of the sea.<\/p>\n
Aside from the \u201cwow factor\u201d of just seeing these bones \u2014 including a blue whale skull from Canada \u2014 up close, this collection also offers valuable insight into our natural world, particularly as it pertains to how our ocean ecosystems are faring.<\/p>\n
As research zoologist and curator of marine mammals Michael McGowen (our guide for this adventure) told us, whales are the ocean\u2019s largest predator, and we\u2019re still learning new things about them every day. One recent species housed in the repository, Rice\u2019s whale, was only just named a species in 2021, and there are fewer than 100 estimated to be living in the wild.<\/p>\n
As we found out: With each new discovery, this Smithsonian collection, which has been going strong since the 1830s, can help whales thrive for generations to come. Buckle up for a deep dive like no other!<\/p>\n
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