Before heading back to LA from Santa Barbara last week, Erin and I made a final stop at the local natural history museum. I’ve blogged before about how great this place is. Not the largest of museums, but somehow managing to cover all the traditional departments through locally themed exhibits – and all in the most beautiful location.
Whale skull at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, June 2010 (Photo:Tim Jones)
In the 18 months since our last visit, two new exhibitions have appeared, and the bird gallery has reopened following renovation. But to our surprise, all that is left of the museum’s flagship exhibit – a 72ft Blue Whale skeleton – is it’s head.
The complete whale skeleton in 2008 (Photo:Tim Jones)
Nice spot..... (Photo:Tim Jones)
For the 20 year old skeleton, one of only five on display in the USA, is in need of a major overhaul. The skull will be completely replaced, and the remaining bones will be refurbished or replaced.
The $500,000 needed to complete the work is being raised by inviting donors to sponsor individual bones and sections of the skeleton through the ‘Buy-A-Bone’ scheme (links to the Museum’s website).
The right to name this particular Balaenoptera musculus has already gone – for a cool $100k. But the skull and vertebral column are still up for grabs at $75k and $137k respectively; most of the ribs are available at $25k each, the left flipper at $13k, or one of twelve carpal bones can be yours for the pocket money sum of $500.
So go ahead – pick your bone!
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Richard Feynman’s Grave
Total Lunar Eclipse 10th December 2011
Steven Pinker in conversation with A.C.Grayling at the Wellcome Collection
David Attenborough – Darwin Lecture 2011, ‘Alfred Russel Wallace and the Birds of Paradise’
Matt Melis Shares 30 Years of the Space Shuttle at the London Science Festival
Lawrence Krauss Sprinkles Stardust at the School of Life
Since the mid 1980s, I've worked in university and industrial research, as a manager and editor in technology and environment for an international industry association, and held senior business development, strategy, and procurement posts in industry. I hold a PhD in chemical engineering from Birmingham University, an MBA from Warwick University Business School, and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College. In 2008, I left industry to focus full-time on my passion for science and technology, and to share that enthusiasm with others as a freelance science communicator. I live in London with my wife Erin.
Contact me at timjones(at)communicatescience.com or through the tab above.
