UBC Students Excavate a Blue Whale

PEI Skeleton At Beaty Biodiversity Museum

In May 2008, an expanded team of UBC researchers and affiliates headed to Prince Edward Island, Canada to retrieve the entire skeleton of a blue whale.

First, a trench alongside the whale was dug with an excavator. Using shovels, pickaxes, and other tools, the team carefully exposed the carcass and peeled away the remaining skin, flesh, and blubber. The bones were removed, cleaned, labeled and packed in a refrigerated container from CN rail to the skeleton's final resting place: The Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC.