As one of only five complete Blue Whale skeletons in the United States, the Museum’s iconic 72-foot long phenomenal specimen is more than just a noted Santa Barbara landmark, it also represents a rare opportunity for children and adults to gain first-hand exposure to, as well as an appreciation of, the world’s largest animal. However, the Museum’s Blue Whale skeleton, located in front of Fleischmann Auditorium, is deteriorating rapidly due to environmental exposure and visitor handling.

Where visitors were once able to actually touch the bones, we have blocked the area from direct public interaction because of the frailty of the skeleton’s bones and the very real possibility that a breakage might cause injury to a Museum visitor.

The Museum’s goal is to raise $475,000 to save this important exhibit. The funds will be used to create a cast of the bones which will better withstand exposure and visitor handling. A cast will be made of the new skull bones recently collected. The original bones will be stored in the Museum’s collection for further research. 

For more information about this fundraising project or to make a gift to the project please contact Development Director Caroline Grange at 805-682-4711 ext. 109 or at cgrange@sbnature2.org.

THE HISTORY OF THE SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY’S BLUE WHALE

The Museum’s Blue Whale is a young male who washed ashore near Vandenberg Air Force Base in August 1980. The process of removing the bones from the beach and bringing them back to the Museum for preparation took over six weeks. Upon arrival, Dr. Charles Woodhouse then Curator of Vertebrate Zoology, along with hundreds of volunteers, worked for nearly three years to clean the bones and assemble the skeleton to make it the iconic image of the Museum that it is today. 

Blue whales are considered to be the largest animal in the history of planet. From July to October the gentle giants can be found in the Santa Barbara Channel, with nearly 2,000 blue whales traveling offshore on their solo journeys for food. Despite their massive size, the whales feed on tiny shrimp-like crustaceans called krill, consuming as many as 40 million krill per day.

Our blue whale holds a special place in the Museum’s heart. For years the skeleton has been a part of every schoolchild’s visit to the Museum and the location where they began their journey of discovery of the natural world. Children and adults alike were invited to get up close and touch the skeleton until recently, when we determined that the deteriorating skeleton could be hazardous and was a potential danger to our visitors.

The Museum’s whale has become our most identifiable feature, and along with the Wharf’s dolphin fountain and the Mission, it is one of the three most photographed images in the Santa Barbara community. The skeleton has also appeared in a BBC natural history production hosted by the noted television presenter and naturalist Sir David Attenborough.