Flipper, Blue Whale
Description
A collection of 24 bones from the flipper of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). Some of these bones have been partly reconstructed with plaster and painted.
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Object detail
Credit line
This
flipper
belongs
to
a
26-metre
blue
whale
that
washed
ashore
north
of
Awakino
in
1975.
There
have
been
nine
strandings
of
blue
whales
in
New
Zealand.
Measuring
over
30
metres
long,
the
blue
whale
is
the
largest
living
mammal
on
earth.
Whalers
of
the
19th
century
were
unable
to
catch
these
fast
swimming
mammals
but
they
were
hunted
almost
to
extinction
in
the
early
20th
century
by
the
steam-powered
Norwegian,
Russian
and
Japanese
whaling
fleets.
The
International
Whaling
Commission
extended
its
protection
to
the
blue
whale
in
1967
and
there
are
signs
of
a
slow
recovery.
The
worldwide
population
is
now
thought
to
be
about
16,000.
Accession number
A70.606
Collection type
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