How to Prepare Whale Bones for Public Exhibition
New Zealand Whale Expert Saves Bones After Whale Dies at Sea
Jun 26, 2009
The museum Te Papa Our Place is home to a mammoth skeleton of a Pygmy Blue Whale, preserved for public exhibition by New Zealand whale expert Hans Rook.
Mr Rook was commissioned by the museum to preserve the skeleton, which was killed at sea after a collision with a container ship in the northern waters of New Zealand in 1994. The 21-metre long framework was intended as a feature exhibition for the museum when it opened in 1998.
Mr Rook was interviewed by the author in 1995 on a hot summer's day in the middle of a Hawkes Bay paddock. It was there Mr Rook had laid out the nine tonnes of skeletal bones taking advantage of the region's high sunshine hours to dry them out.
Whale Killed at Sea will Provide Information About Whales
Mr Rook, then a field officer with the Department of Conservation's Hawkes Bay conservancy, said the death of the whale had created an exciting opportunity for Te Papa. The skeleton would be a valuable educational resource for anyone wanting information about whales.
"Children have no perception of the size of large animals," Mr Rook said.
"Seeing this skeleton will help them understand just how immense these creatures are," he said.
Mr Rook described the massive undertaking to retrieve the skeleton. The dead whale was towed from the point of collision to nearby Motutapu Island where he and some helpers extracted the bones and buried the remaining flesh. The whale's skeleton was then trucked to Hawkes Bay.
Preparation of the bones was a long and involved procedure, Mr Rook said. Whale bones were extremely porous, similar in texture to solidified sponge and saturated in a thick oil. Cleaning and preserving them was difficult. If left untreated, whale bones with their unique saturation of oil, would eventually decompose.
The first step in preserving the Blue Whale bones once they arrived in Hawkes Bay, had been to submerge them in the sea where various sea creatures and micro-organisms had removed the bulk of oil and flesh.
Once out of the water, Mr Rook had used a commercial steam cleaner to further remove oil. But the only way to fully de-grease the skeleton was to let it dry naturally. His base in Hawkes Bay was an added advantage for the task.
The sun would also slightly bleach the bones, enhancing their appearance.
Whale Expert Hans Rook's Knowledge Sees Jaw Bones Handed Over to Maori
Mr Rook learnt the skills needed to preserve the whale skeleton from the renowned Hawkes Bay whale expert and writer Frank D Robson QSO, who died in 1994. Mr Rook's knowledge had enabled the Department of Conservation to give the jaw bones of beached sperm whales to local Maori tribes.
Mr Rook said it was a common misconception that all whale bones could be carved. In fact, only the jaw bones of sperm whales were suitable.
The first bone Mr Rook had prepared was in 1990 for Hawkes Bay's Ngati Kere and Ngati Manuhiri hapu (sub-tribes).
