Mr MITCHELL - 2000-08-16
Honourable members may recall some years ago a sperm whale being washed up on the beach out at Casuarina. It eventually died and the carcass was given to the Museum and Art Gallery for reconstruction as an exhibit. Can the minister give us an update on what progress is being made with this coming to our visual attention?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his interest in this subject. As members may well remember, there was a rather sad occasion back in 1992 when a 14 m sperm whale was found stranded on Casuarina Beach. Sadly, attempts to save the whale’s life proved unsuccessful. At that stage the question was asked whether …
Mr Ah Kit: How was the whale’s heart?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Arnhem, Mr Ah Kit, interjects, and I am really trying to hold myself in. I can think of a million replies, but I am trying to behave myself. I will match my heart against yours any day, Jack. Any day, I will run 100 m against you, I will run a mile. You name the time and place. But I will leave the whale jokes alone. They would not be unparliamentary, but it would just be too easy if we kicked that one.
It was decided that the legacy of the whale would be that we would try to preserve the skeleton of the whale and eventually it at the Museum. The next day, the whale was towed by an army landing craft to the Darwin navy base. It was flensed: the skin and most of the flesh were removed. The carcass was then buried in mulch at the old Leanyer tip. The idea of that was to soften the remaining flesh and to separate it from the bones. That took until June 1994, when the bones were dug up and taken to the Museum’s taxidermy facility in Darwin for eventual preparation as an exhibit.
The taxidermist, Gerard Archibald, has been engaged in the painstaking task of cleaning, degreasing and hardening with fibreglass the individual bones. This is a long and involved process. I remind honourable members that this is a 14 m whale. When we talk about crocs, we think 3 m or 4 m is big. Well, this is 14 m that is being cleaned and prepared at the moment, so it is not an overnight task.
The backbone was recently completed and work will shortly commence on the ribs and appendages to the skeleton. That will then be followed by the skull and jaws. When the work is completed a steel structure will support the bones. That will be fabricated to specifications and the whole skeleton will be assembled in the correct manner. It is expected that sometime towards the end of next year that display will be opened to the public.
I offer my congratulations to Museum staff for what they are doing …
Ms Martin: End of next year?
Mr ADAMSON: … particularly Gerard at the moment.
I notice the Leader of the Opposition can’t help but interject. She is no friend of the Museum, sadly, as we have seen time and time again. I urge the Leader of the Opposition to stop talking down the Museum.
I thank the staff for a job well done. I think the whale exhibit will be of great interest to the people of the Northern Territory …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: I thought this was a good-news story that the opposition would be interested in. I don’t see what they see fault in. I give credit for the great work that has been done and I, along with all other Territorians, look forward with great interest to this exhibit finally being put on show to the public.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his interest in this subject. As members may well remember, there was a rather sad occasion back in 1992 when a 14 m sperm whale was found stranded on Casuarina Beach. Sadly, attempts to save the whale’s life proved unsuccessful. At that stage the question was asked whether …
Mr Ah Kit: How was the whale’s heart?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Arnhem, Mr Ah Kit, interjects, and I am really trying to hold myself in. I can think of a million replies, but I am trying to behave myself. I will match my heart against yours any day, Jack. Any day, I will run 100 m against you, I will run a mile. You name the time and place. But I will leave the whale jokes alone. They would not be unparliamentary, but it would just be too easy if we kicked that one.
It was decided that the legacy of the whale would be that we would try to preserve the skeleton of the whale and eventually it at the Museum. The next day, the whale was towed by an army landing craft to the Darwin navy base. It was flensed: the skin and most of the flesh were removed. The carcass was then buried in mulch at the old Leanyer tip. The idea of that was to soften the remaining flesh and to separate it from the bones. That took until June 1994, when the bones were dug up and taken to the Museum’s taxidermy facility in Darwin for eventual preparation as an exhibit.
The taxidermist, Gerard Archibald, has been engaged in the painstaking task of cleaning, degreasing and hardening with fibreglass the individual bones. This is a long and involved process. I remind honourable members that this is a 14 m whale. When we talk about crocs, we think 3 m or 4 m is big. Well, this is 14 m that is being cleaned and prepared at the moment, so it is not an overnight task.
The backbone was recently completed and work will shortly commence on the ribs and appendages to the skeleton. That will then be followed by the skull and jaws. When the work is completed a steel structure will support the bones. That will be fabricated to specifications and the whole skeleton will be assembled in the correct manner. It is expected that sometime towards the end of next year that display will be opened to the public.
I offer my congratulations to Museum staff for what they are doing …
Ms Martin: End of next year?
Mr ADAMSON: … particularly Gerard at the moment.
I notice the Leader of the Opposition can’t help but interject. She is no friend of the Museum, sadly, as we have seen time and time again. I urge the Leader of the Opposition to stop talking down the Museum.
I thank the staff for a job well done. I think the whale exhibit will be of great interest to the people of the Northern Territory …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: I thought this was a good-news story that the opposition would be interested in. I don’t see what they see fault in. I give credit for the great work that has been done and I, along with all other Territorians, look forward with great interest to this exhibit finally being put on show to the public.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016