Go under the sea at Fernbank

Our crew didn’t know we’d be keeping dolphins out of danger and climbing inside a whale’s heart on our recent visit to Fernbank, but these activities were the highlights of our tour of the new Whales: Giants of the Deep exhibit. My 7-year-old son gravitated toward the exhibit’s digital discoveries and my 3-year-old son just wanted to play and touch. Fortunately for us, they got to do both.
The life-sized replica of a whale’s heart is as big as a VW “Beetle” car, and young museum guests had a great time climbing in and out of it. Older kids were fascinated by the sound elements. Andrew, my 7-year-old said, “I got to hear what it actually sounds like for a whale to pump his blood through his heart!” In the Sound Chamber, we heard the sounds dolphins make to navigate their surroundings, find food and communicate with each other. We expect many young visitors go home talking “dolphin” to their families.
Did you know porpoises and dolphins are actually whales? The whale family tree includes these and many other varieties that we learned about on the “whale scale,” which shows the massive difference between the tiny Hector’s dolphin to the world’s largest animal, the blue whale.
Andrew and I played the lifelike Dolphin Danger game, using a joystick (similar to the old Atari version) to maneuver a dolphin through deep waters safely. He said he had no idea dolphins had so many threats under water, but once he learned how to steer clear of them, it was just fun to “drive a dolphin around.”
In the Search and Destroy Theater, data collected from tagged sperm whales showed us how whales locate and eat their prey. We decided we wouldn’t want to be a squid if a sperm whale was around! We also enjoyed going “In for a Swim,” where we observed whale evolution and learned about discoveries of whaling scientists.
We heard stories of the famous Mori whale riders, and saw a treasure trove of items made from whale bones, including weapons and delicate ornaments. We saw a whale tooth and learned New Zealanders would carve the teeth to make hair combs. But the most amazing element was saw was the huge life-size sperm whale skeleton measuring 58.4 feet, longer than a school bus! The skeleton is in the middle of the exhibit so you can’t miss it.
– LaKeisha Fleming