Featured Image Credit: Chip Clark – National Museum of Natural History
By: Natalie Helbling
The Museum of Natural History has quite the collection of whale bones. The bones that clutter this warehouse range from 45 million years old, to bones that have been collected as recently as last year.
The numerous bones that are held in Suitland, Maryland are more than just part of a scientific catalog, they tell a story. Many whale species are currently on the endangered species list or listed as a threatened species, which makes this collection rather unique. In addition, the bones of many extinct species and unnamed species can also be found in the warehouse. So, just how did the Smithsonian end up with all of these rare specimen?
The stories behind the whales that are found in this incredible collection are rather sad ones. Whaling used to be a very common activity, and is still practiced by some cultures to this day. In the peak of the whaling industry, from about 1900 to 1999, nearly 3 million whales were killed in hopes of harvesting their blubber for lamps and machinery.
Remington Kellog was a scientist for the Smithsonian back in the early 1900’s. And he was whale lover. After learning about the mass killings of all of types of whales, he decided to take a stand and start protecting these beautiful animals. He met a young lad named Quentin Walsh, who quickly became a huge asset to the success of this collection.
Aboard the Ulysses, Walsh was required to document all the catches in the new effort to regulate whaling. Walsh took extremely detailed notes on all of the species caught and even persuaded the crew to hold on to some of the bones to give to Kellog when they returned to shore. The large right whale skull still remains in the collection and was recently used for research.
Looking at the fossils we have of these whales is a great reminder that humans can make a large and uncorrectable impact on a species. Because of whaling, we have decreased the numbers of many whale species to a disturbingly low number. Researching and studying the fossils found in this warehouse can help us make a difference. Let’s keep the largest whale population in the ocean, and not in a museum.
Read more about the Smithsonian’s Whale-house from our source.