Blog Post
The Most Uncommon Whales?
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?
Whales
The massive and awe-inspiring creatures have long played a vital role in the lives of coastal peoples around the world. Drawn from the Museum’s rich archives and collections, the resources below include the story of the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life’s beloved blue whale, video about the rarest whale on Earth, and Arctic explorer Herbert Ponting’s chilling account of being hunted by a pod of killer whales. Don't miss the special exhibition Whales: Giants of the Deep, opening March 23rd at the Museum.
Support for the development of Science Topics was generously provided by Sidney and Helaine Lerner, GRACE Communications Foundation.
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Permanent ExhibitionThe Blue Whale
At 94 feet long, the fiberglass replica of a female blue whale is a Museum treasure. Blue whales have been hunted to near extinction. Today, the Museum's blue whale serves as a reminder of our responsibility to our environment, both on land and in the sea.
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OLogyRubber Blubber Gloves
What keeps whales and walruses warm in bone-chilling water? One thing is the thick layer of fat under their skin, called blubber. Blubber acts as insulation between the animal's inner organs and the chilly ocean.
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Science BulletinsBeluga Whales Endangered in Alaska
Concerned about a population crash in the smallest beluga whale group in Alaskan waters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) listed the belugas in Anchorage's Cook Inlet as endangered under the Endangered Species Act on October 22, 2008.
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Science BulletinsWhales Give Dolphins a Lift
Many species interact in the wild, most often as predator and prey. But recent encounters between humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins reveal a playful side to interspecies interaction.
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Blog PostAncient DNA Reveals Arctic Whale Mysteries
A team of researchers has published the first range-wide genetic analysis of the bowhead whale—a baleen whale that lives in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters—using hundreds of samples from both modern populations and archaeological sites used by indigenous hunters thousands of years ago.
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ArticleGetting a Leg Up on Whale and Dolphin Evolution
When the ancestors of living cetaceans--whales, dolphins and porpoises--first dipped their toes into water, a series of evolutionary changes were sparked that ultimately nestled these swimming mammals into the larger hoofed animal group. But what happened first, a change from a plant-based diet to a carnivorous diet, or the loss of their ability to walk?
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Popular ToursWhales Tour
The special exhibition Whales: Giants of the Deep (3/23/2013-1/5/2014) transports visitors to the underwater world of the mightiest animals on Earth and explores their biology, evolutionary history, and role in human cultures.
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ArticleThe Great White South by Herbert Ponting
During his lifetime, Herbert G. Ponting was widely known in England as a world traveler, master photographer, travel writer, and lecturer.
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OLogyHumpback Whale Journal
Preserving humpbacks is no fluke! For centuries, humans have hunted humpback whales. There are only about 35,000 humpbacks left in the world.
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Permanent ExhibitionSperm Whale and Giant Squid
The squid and whale diorama depicts a sperm whale clashing with its prey, a giant squid. The giant squid had never been seen in its natural habitat until 2005, when researchers got footage of an adult giant squid in the wild.
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Science BulletinsRarest Whale on Earth
Approximately 78 species of whales inhabit the ocean, but a number of these species remain elusive. Beaked whales are deep-sea feeders that surface briefly and discreetly; they are seldom seen, and only a handful of specimens have ever been recovered for study.
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Blog PostTime-lapse video of Whale Cleaning at the Museum
The Museum’s 94-foot-long blue whale received a good scrub earlier this week. Visitors who didn’t make it to the Museum’s Milstein Hall of Ocean Life on Wednesday to see the cleaning, missed the live stream on amnh.org, or want to see it again can check out the time lapse video above.
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Seminars on ScienceOnto Land and Back: Dr. Maureen O'Leary Studies Whale Evolution
Consider these enormous, intelligent animals. They're mammals, but they abandoned dry land over 50 million years ago to recolonize the sea. And they look nothing like the land ancestors they left behind.