March 20, 2012: Tour Beaty Biodiversity Museum UBC

TOUR BEATY BIODIVERSITY MUSEUM UBC – TUESDAY MARCH 20TH
9:30 NO HOST COFFEE AND PASTRIES AT NICHE CAFE WITHIN MUSEUM
10:00 PRIVATE SHOWING OF THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRODUCED MOVIE
“THE BLUE WHALE STORY” – This 45 minute film features the story behind the blue whale skeleton that hangs in the atrium of the Beatty Museum. In 1987, a 26 metre long mature female blue whale died and washed up on the shore of Prince Edward Island near the town of Tignish. Blue whales are the largest animal to ever have lived on Earth. They rarely strand on beaches and very few skeletons have been recovered for research or display. In hope of preserving the whale’s skeleton for research and museum display, the remains of the blue whale were dragged off the beach and buried. The remains of the whale were longer than two Vancouver trolley buses parked one behind the other and weighted an estimated 80,000kg. The whale skeleton remained under the red PEI dirt for two decades and in 2007 UBC was given permission to retrieve the whale and to move the skeleton remains over a distance of 6000 miles to the Beatty Museum. This film documents the trials and triumphs of moving the whale skeletal remains from the east to the west coast of Canada.
The Beaty Biodiversity Museum is Vancouver’s Natural History Museum; its’
20,000 square feet of display space contains over 2 million specimens. Over 95% of the museum’s collection space is open to exploration; specimens are kept in sealed cabinets but one can peer through windows right into the research collections.

10:45 A museum representative will greet our group and field any questions.
11:00 The attendees will split into approximately three smaller groups and have guided tours for one hour through the museum. After the tour, individuals are free to spend more time in the museum or leave at their leisure. There are restaurants in the area for those wishing to have lunch.

MEMBERS AND GUESTS – $20 PER PERSON LIMITED TO 60 ATTENDEES
UBC MAP AND DETAILED TRAVEL AND PARKING INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE GIVEN TO REGISTRANTS
THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED, PLEASE
TELEPHONE BILL ROBERTSON TO JOIN THE WAIT LIST 604-269-0745