Museum of Natural History's New Sant Ocean Hall
Smithsonian Upgrades with Interactive Exhibits on Marine Science
© Kat Long
Dec 31, 2008
After a multimillion dollar renovation and scientific upgrade, the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. dazzles the eye with computerized models, interactive exhibits for kids and adults, and a strong emphasis on teaching visitors the principle of ocean conservation and humans’ role in both exploiting and preserving marine resources.
Emphasizing Conservation
The Hall, which occupies most of the exhibition space on the first floor of the museum, is divided into sections that highlight aspects of marine science and the roles humans play in the destruction and survival of oceanic habitats. “Living on an Ocean Planet” and “Ocean Systems” underscore the importance of oceans in Earth’s climate.
Whales act as the symbolic “ambassadors” of the Ocean Hall’s conservation message. One exhibit explains the evolution of the whale from an ancient amphibious animal with four legs to the elongated, streamlined mammal we know today. A life-size model of a North Atlantic Right Whale, the most endangered whale on earth with a current population of about 400, hangs above several kiosks that relate the story of the actual whale from which the model was cast. The story, as well as Native American artifacts and products created from the nineteenth-century whaling industry, clearly show the relationship shared by humans and whales and the active role humans must play in the conservation of whales and their habitats.
Other Exhibits of Note
“The Poles” exhibits the mostly unexplored marine ecosystems at the north and south poles. Climate change is positioned as a threat to life in the Arctic and Antarctic, demonstrated with preserved specimens of strange deep-sea invertebrates as well as the more familiar penguin (stuffed) and polar bears (in photos). “Shore to Shallows” refers to local ecosystems, such as the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic beach, and the impact of humans on wetlands. “Journey through Time” features fossils of trilobytes and other marine animals, some of which are more than 500 million years old.
Design of the Hall
With so many exhibits and electronic stimuli, one may feel overwhelmed in the Ocean Hall—especially if it’s crowded. Some of the most interesting artifacts, such as prehistoric whale skeletons, life-size models, and the Right Whale, are placed far above an adult’s eye level, making them difficult to examine up close. Most of the interactive kiosks and video are at eye level, while information and images geared toward children lower down.
The modernization of the Ocean Hall reflects the contemporary effort in science museums to draw in younger visitors with technological gadgets and hand-on experiences, while doing away with the concept of museums as musty repositories for taxidermied specimens. As a result, most of the old-fashioned models and life-size casts of exotic animals are gone, taking with them a sense of wonderment at the natural world that flashy computer animations simply can’t reproduce.
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