One of the perks of being near DC is the ease of taking on new museum exhibits bit by bit, avoiding the 3pm burnout, "All I want is a coffee" tantrum. And so it was on a recent day off, post-lunch, we wandered into the new Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. One of us had already been there for a work-related show-and-tell, probably without the humble masses explaining misinformation to their wide-eyed offspring ("pelagic"-as in, rhymes with magic, not the hard g, as in lag, you idiot! Geez!). I was instantly reminded of the time I was at the Ballard Locks and a too-eager father was explaining to his bored daughter that "if these dams weren't here, the whole lake would drain." Apparently, he hadn't looked at a map of Seattle ca. 1910 and at that time I couldn't keep my mouth shut. This time I refrained--the dad was clearly struggling and I was pleased he even had his kids there, and besides, it wasn't an egregious lie.
Anyway, despite the crowds (everyone else had the day off too, apparently), we did get in some good wandering. There's a nice little "Intro. to the Oceans" video display that takes place on a globe--it seems as if it's magically suspended in mid-air which raises the intrigue a bit (and also has a bit of that CNN election-night hologram quality about it), but overall the information is interesting and well presented.
The exhibits were all worth a gander, even though the whales did have a disproportionate amount of space (okay, they're big, but how many species are there???). The inverts. weren't dismissed though, with several displays on plankton and some good nudibranch pictures too! And they even had a piece that featured
Trichodesmium, a fascinating little dude. I was more drawn to the giant squid (even though the case it was in made for terrible viewing), the
coelacanth, and of course the
Mola mola, despite the fact that it appeared to be a rather plastic facsimile.
A few hours in, and after sequestering myself in the marine science/maritime history corner to get away from it all (funny how log books just don't draw the same crowds as sharks!), I decided we could call it a day and come back when the crowds were down...if there is such a time. All in all there was lots to see and most every aspect of marine biology seemed to be represented (although I'm sure some arcane subjects were overlooked and someone will let me know). One of the sections I'll have to give some attention to on my next go is the prehistoric fishes display--I was tempted, but then couldn't get close enough to read the placards. I guess that's good incentive to return!
One of the perks of being near DC is the ease of taking on new museum exhibits bit by bit, avoiding the 3pm burnout, "All I want is a coffee" tantrum. And so it was on a recent day off, post-lunch, we wandered into the new Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. One of us had already been there for a work-related show-and-tell, probably without the humble masses explaining misinformation to their wide-eyed offspring ("pelagic"-as in, rhymes with magic, not the hard g, as in lag, you idiot! Geez!). I was instantly reminded of the time I was at the Ballard Locks and a too-eager father was explaining to his bored daughter that "if these dams weren't here, the whole lake would drain." Apparently, he hadn't looked at a map of Seattle ca. 1910 and at that time I couldn't keep my mouth shut. This time I refrained--the dad was clearly struggling and I was pleased he even had his kids there, and besides, it wasn't an egregious lie.
Anyway, despite the crowds (everyone else had the day off too, apparently), we did get in some good wandering. There's a nice little "Intro. to the Oceans" video display that takes place on a globe--it seems as if it's magically suspended in mid-air which raises the intrigue a bit (and also has a bit of that CNN election-night hologram quality about it), but overall the information is interesting and well presented.
The exhibits were all worth a gander, even though the whales did have a disproportionate amount of space (okay, they're big, but how many species are there???). The inverts. weren't dismissed though, with several displays on plankton and some good nudibranch pictures too! And they even had a piece that featured Trichodesmium, a fascinating little dude. I was more drawn to the giant squid (even though the case it was in made for terrible viewing), the coelacanth, and of course the Mola mola, despite the fact that it appeared to be a rather plastic facsimile.
A few hours in, and after sequestering myself in the marine science/maritime history corner to get away from it all (funny how log books just don't draw the same crowds as sharks!), I decided we could call it a day and come back when the crowds were down...if there is such a time. All in all there was lots to see and most every aspect of marine biology seemed to be represented (although I'm sure some arcane subjects were overlooked and someone will let me know). One of the sections I'll have to give some attention to on my next go is the prehistoric fishes display--I was tempted, but then couldn't get close enough to read the placards. I guess that's good incentive to return!
1 comment:
Your story reminds me about my senior project on the gorillas at the National Zoo. I went there almost everyday for two weeks and I had to hold my tongue when parents misinformed their children about the monkeys. This WAS the most egregious falsehood I could think of in the situation but I just couldn't bring myself to scold the parents in front of their children. I know I'm wrong all the time when it comes to politics, sports, and probably parenting techniques!
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