A whale of a tale! In a video, get the inside view from Museum curators about our newest exhibition, Whales: Giants of the Deep, which opens Saturday, March 23, 2013.

Most of us know about blue whales, sperm whales, and dolphins (a type of specialized whale). But what about beaked whales, an elusive group that includes nearly a quarter of all living whale species? 

Like hippos, their closest living relatives, whales are descended from an ancestor that had four legs and walked on land, a transition explored in the upcoming exhibition Whales: Giants of the Deep, opening March 23.

The word "whale" may bring to mind the image of a blue whale, the largest animal ever to have lived. But did you know that dolphins and porpoises are also specialized whales? Today, there about 80 species of living whales, or cetaceans. Among these marine mammals, there are two groups: baleen and toothed.

Just six weeks to go until the opening of Whales: Giants of the Deep, a new exhibition devoted to the biology, anatomy, and evolution of whales—as well as their cultural significance to maritime human cultures, from New Zealand to New Bedford, Massachusetts.