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(RCI), which specializes in mounting displays for museums and universities around the world, completed the installation over five days in late February. RCI transported the bones to Dal from the company’s Trenton, Ontario facility.

Dal’s Cody Turner was on hand to capture RCI’s “skeleton crew” performing the installation:

An installation odyssey

The whale from which the skeleton was sourced was originally found beached near Liverpool, N.S. in 2017. A fundraiser called the Blue Whale Project was born shortly thereafter centered around the desire to transform this tragic loss into a powerful educational exhibit on ocean conservation and marine biodiversity.

Following its discovery, Dr. Gordon Price, a professor in the Faculty of Agriculture’s Department of Engineering, university veterinarian Dr. Chris Harvey-Clark, and a large team of volunteers began the long process of composting the whale’s bones to remove tissue and establish an environmentally friendly process of degreasing and removing oils embedded in its skeletal structure in preparation for the skeleton to be mounted and displayed. During the preservation process, which included using aerated tanks with Dawn detergent, a member of Dr. Price's Innovative Waste Management Laboratory, Ryan Bell, and Chris Nelson, a senior instructor in the Faculty of Agriculture’s Department of Engineering, undertook the process of using a 3D hand scanner for a virtual 3D model of each bone for use by researchers.

An $8.2-million gift from entrepreneur and conservationist Ross Beaty and family to support the development of a public-facing marine science space at Dal featuring the whale skeleton was later announced in May 2023.

Opening day awaits

With the whale skeleton in place and casting an impressive shadow over the atrium of the Steele Building, work on transforming the space to house the displays and exhibits showcasing local marine life in the Beaty Centre is ongoing.

The Beaty Centre, operated by Discovery Centre International in collaboration with Dal, hopes to start welcoming visitors in fall 2025. The exact opening date won’t be determined until the construction work is complete and all the marine species collected from nearby waters are comfortable in their new home.

“The excitement about the whale and the upcoming public space is very palpable,” says Dr. Boris Worm, a professor in the Department of Biology and co-founder and scientific director of , which is developing educational content related to ocean literacy for the Beaty Centre. “We look forward to seeing Nova Scotians engaged and inspired about our amazing ocean this fall.”

If you’re hoping to see the whale for yourself ahead of the Beaty Centre opening, it can be observed safely from the 3^rd-floor pedway connecting the Life Science Centre’s Oceanography Tower and the Steele Ocean Sciences Building.

Stay tuned for updates in the months to come as the Beaty Centre gets closer to opening its doors. In the meantime:

• Visit the Beaty Centre’s page on Dal’s Giving website for more news and features, including a virtual tour and a video on how Dal researchers preserved the blue whale skeleton now on display.
• Follow the  Instagram account for a closer look at the species that will be residing in the Beaty Centre. An official website and social channels for the Beaty Centre will be coming this summer.