The idea for an R.O.M. project began when two dead Blue Whales washed ashore at TROUT RIVER, Newfoundland in 2014.

The locals were understandably alarmed that this mammoth creature – the world’s largest mammal – could explode, become a danger to public health, or at least lie there reeking in the noonday sun. <PHOTOS ABOVE – NTV Television, Newfoundland>

TORONTO’s Royal Ontario Museum saw a rare opportunity, and after negotiating with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, dispatched a team to the east coast. The museum team disassembled the whale, which – as expected – was dirty, nauseating work. Imagine a 100-tonne sea creature baking away on the beach.

<The Blue Whale’s heart alone was almost the size of a Smartcar>

<PHOTO ABOVE – Kate Allen/Toronto Star>  The skeleton was loaded onto a truck and driven 1,580 miles to Trenton, Ontario, and from there to TORONTO, where it was readied for an exhibition ‘Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story’.  It’s now on at the Royal Ontario Museum, Bloor Street West at Avenue Road.

<PHOTO ABOVE – Tanja-Tiziana>  Information and lots of photos are available online at the Museum’s website – https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/research-community-projects/blue-whale