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NEW YORK -- The Sleeping Giant, a 94-foot-long, 21,000-pound model of a female blue whale, has graced the American Museum of Natural History's Hall of Ocean Life since 1969. Recently it became obvious she wasn't aging gracefully: Her butt was too big and her eyes were too baggy.
The blue whale's makeover is part of a 14-month renovation of the museum's Hall of Ocean Life. A lot of elbow grease and $25 million will transform the dusty archive of moldering marine memorabilia into a virtual ocean alive with video, special lighting effects and interactive displays.
But it won't be too high-tech. Museum staff wanted to update the exhibits sufficiently to enchant and educate tech-savvy kids without destroying the timeless grandeur millions of visitors have come to know and love.
When it opened May 2, 1933, the hall featured an expansive skylight that was blocked out shortly after opening day when curators complained that the sunlight overpowered the exhibits. The subsequent darkness nicely mimicked being underwater -- but it was also a bit depressing.
When it reopens May 17, a computer-controlled lighting system will illuminate the hall, simulating sun-dappled water shimmering on the ceiling and walls. The dioramas of preserved sea creatures that have terrified and enchanted generations of New York City schoolkids aren't going anywhere, but they'll be joined by a slew of video screens featuring images of marine ecosystems and their living inhabitants, along with interactive displays running on Macintosh G4 computers.
Despite the addition of computers and big-screen displays, the museum is adamant about remaining a museum, not a science center packed with hands-on, interactive exhibits.
New science centers rarely display old-fashioned dioramas featuring models of animals or people in their "natural habitats," and they don't exhibit collections of dead bugs, stuffed birds or dinosaur bones. In fact, science centers rarely have any specimen collections at all -- live or dead.
But institutions like the Museum of Natural History are proud to highlight their research programs in exhibits, and they have no intention of packing away the dino bones or dioramas.
"The greatest success of the hall's restoration is the way it uses cutting-edge exhibition technology to enhance the classic elegance of the hall, especially the historic dioramas," said Robin Lloyd, museum spokeswoman. "The dioramas and the 94-foot-long blue whale form are the heart and soul of the Hall of Ocean Life. As part of this refurbishment they were enhanced, but their essential beauty was not changed."
Museum artists slimmed the whale's bulging eye sockets, tapered her tail and gave her a fresh coat of paint. The model, based on a female blue whale found in 1925, is sculpted in fiberglass and polyurethane and is the world's largest replica of the largest creature on Earth.
Visitors gazing up at the whale will see the hall's restored original skylights, now illuminated by artificial lighting. Under the planned redesign, the whale will float in a virtual ocean created by lights and video, accompanied by the dulcet tones of whale song and a display showing satellite-tracking data of blue whale migrations culled from research by Howard Rosenbaum.
Lloyd said the museum would not provide tracking data because of the risk -- however small -- that poachers could use such information to locate and kill whales.
"Obviously the museum doesn't think slews of whalers will come to the exhibit specifically to track whales, but we opted to not provide real-time (tracking information) out of a general concern regarding the possible uses of such data," Lloyd explained.
The new hall features five interactive displays, including one that maps the family relationships of marine animals. The screens utilize "actual depth" technology -- two liquid crystal displays layered one inch apart. The LCD in front displays white pixels transparently, allowing the viewer to see through to the opaque display screen behind it, providing depth of field and a 3-D glimpse into the underwater world.
The renovation also left the hall fully wired for high-speed networking and wireless access.
Initially the network will be reserved for museum use only. The museum intends to use the high-speed access for real-time video visits between the museum and New York City schools. A website will allow virtual visitors to explore those famous dioramas.
Such a blend of new technology and "old favorites" works very well for prominent museums, said Bonnie VanDorn, executive director of the Association of Science-Technology Centers.
"The American Museum of Natural History is a very special institution because of, in part, the personal connection many of its visitors have developed over time," VanDorn said. "So, by combining state-of-the-art technology with those icons that visitors look forward to seeing every time they visit -- including that wonderful blue whale -- the refurbishment of the Hall of Ocean Life should meet the needs of the very diverse audience the museum serves."
But the best gauge of the popularity of the museum's classic attractions is the sad faces of the visiting school kids when they realize they won't be able to see the big blue whale until the hall reopens.
"That big fish is extremely cool," said 11-year-old Seth Gilderstein. "I've been visiting here since I was a little kid, and I like the way I feel in that room. Weird things could happen in there. I really like that feeling."
