NHM to replace Dippy with a Whale!

Skeeter

Skeeter

Skeeter

Caporegime
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31025229

I'm outraged! :p

To me Dippy in the hall at the NHM is as iconic as Big Ben or Tower Bridge! When I went to the NHM as a kid I remember it being the most spectacular thing there, and I went back a few months ago and its just as impressive now.

Having a life sized replica of an animal that no longer exists is a wonderful thing, especially to children. I can understand why the NHM are keen to show off their full sized, fully complete Blue Whale skeleteon, but I think they are kind of missing the point. Its impressive in a museum curator "look at the fully complete specimin we have, isn't it interesting" kind of way, but I feel its nothing compared to the "Wow kids! Look at the size of this thing!!" prescence of something most people will have never seen before.

Its a shame :(.
 
Welcome to last week..


Skeeter said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31025229

I'm outraged! :p

To me Dippy in the hall at the NHM is as iconic as Big Ben or Tower Bridge! When I went to the NHM as a kid I remember it being the most spectacular thing there, and I went back a few months ago and its just as impressive now.
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it's only been there since 1979

Having a life sized replica of an animal that no longer exists is a wonderful thing, especially to children. I can understand why the NHM are keen to show off their full sized, fully complete Blue Whale skeleteon, but I think they are kind of missing the point. Its impressive in a museum curator "look at the fully complete specimin we have, isn't it interesting" kind of way, but I feel its nothing compared to the "Wow kids! Look at the size of this thing!!" prescence of something most people will have never seen before.

Its a shame :(.
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I don't see how the blue whale is any less impressive. I don't think many people have seen a blue whale either.
It's slightly bigger than the dinosaur as well
 
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That skeleton has been there for a VERY VERY long time. I think it's great that it's being replaced - both creatures have a stunning skeleton, both of which are mesmerizing.
 
Actually having visited as a child and as an adult I was quite underwhelmed with the size of dippy as an adult. It was bigger in my memory
 
Blue Whales exist, Dinosours don't any more.

Its also going to be more difficult for children to visualse what the whale is, as large parts of the body don't have any bones

I'm not disputing that the whale is impressive, but I think swapping them because ones real and ones "just a replica" is missing the point. I bet if you asked a bunch of kids what was cooler out of a dinosaur skeleton and a whale skeleton most would pick Dippy

They haven't even confirmed Dippy will remain on display, he could end up in a box! :eek: :(
 
Yeah, taking it out of the main hall and putting it in with the rest of them is the best thing to do. The Blue Whale is huge and will also be a great focal point, but it also gives the opportunity for 'Dippy' to go on tour as they hope they can do :)

e; Pretty sure they have confirmed he wont end up in a box ;) Pretty sure the plan is to put him with other dinosaurs or take him to multiple museums.
 
Kids are not into stupid whales, kids are into dinosaurs, preferably dinosaurs with big teeth that hide under their bed at night.

Throw the stupid dead fish in the bin and fill the hall with raptors. Stand back and watch the kids be fascinated.

God, adults are so ****ing dumb sometimes.
 
bitslice said:
Kids are not into stupid whales, kids are into dinosaurs, preferably dinosaurs with big teeth that hide under their bed at night.

Throw the stupid dead fish in the bin and fill the hall with raptors. Stand back and watch the kids be fascinated.

God, adults are so ****ing dumb sometimes.
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lol. Especially ones that don't know that a Blue Whale is a Mammal, not a fish. ;)
 
Very sad to see Dippy go on tour although for some reason I do imagine it looking like "one of our dinosaurs are missing"... I struggle to imagine any child wanting to go to the museum to see the whale daddy...

*save Dippy" :)
 
I'm undecided.

The Dinosaur isn't actually a real skeleton, so displaying a fake can lose the museum some credibility.

But then the Whale is an animal that the Japanese still hunt (:(), and I'm not sure that we should be displaying it... unless the exhibit can incorporate a big plug for the stopping whaling campaigns.
 
The percentage of people who care that Dippy is a fake will be tiny. In fact I doubt most people who see him even know its a replica.

The whale is impressive, but Dippy is just more impressive. He has a name and everything!
 
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