Posted on: Sunday, October 5, 2008
Explore the ocean without getting wet
By Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
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IF YOU GO ...
The National Museum of Natural History is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily (closed Dec. 25) at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW in Washington, D.C. http://ocean.si.edu/ocean_hall.
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WHERE: National Museum of Natural History's newly opened (and breathtaking) Sant Ocean Hall.
The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface and constitutes 95 percent of the planet's livable space. It is, on average, as deep as 22 Washington Monuments stacked end to end. Only 10 people have explored it beyond 31/2 miles down.
Here are three highlights:
Phoenix the whale: The Ocean Hall's theme could be characterized as "what lies beneath." But never mind that. As soon as you step into the place, you're going to want to look straight up. That's where you'll be greeted by the hall's unofficial mascot, Phoenix. Hanging from the ceiling, she's a 45-foot replica of a North Atlantic right whale. And this one is a kind of portrait, a scale-model model of a living whale that has been tracked by scientists since her birth in 1987. The rough-looking bumps on her face? They're not barnacles, but callosities (similar to the calluses we get on our hands and feet). And their pattern is what helps trackers identify Phoenix from the air. You can even touch one of those warty growths at one of the Ocean Hall's hands-on displays.
Giant squids: Next, head for that coffinlike metal case beneath Phoenix's tail. Inside is a 24-foot-long female giant squid, one of two specimens — his 'n' hers — preserved in a special hair-gel-like fluid developed by 3M. In a separate tank nearby you'll find a smaller, but no less eye-popping male. Now would be the time to take out your camera.
Jaw of a nightmarish shark: With a case all to itself, the Ocean Hall's one must-see fossil belongs to Carcharodon megalodon, a now-extinct giant shark whose massive size (up to 60 feet) makes that other great white from the movies look like a goldfish. The teeth here are real. Only the mouth itself, 6 feet tall when poised to chomp, is a reconstruction.
