![]() | From Ocean Navigator #131 July/August 2003 |


Barton reportedly lost sleep over the project, which made him even more irritable and prone to fidgeting in the weeks leading up to the opening. One such nervous habit involved using a long wooden stick to measure repeatedly the height of the whale’s chin off the floor, checking to see that it remained at 11 feet. His crew, eager for a chance to drive the taciturn man to distraction, each day added daubs of glue to the end of the stick, which would pick up bits of sawdust and other debris and had the effect of lengthening the stick a little at a time – and offering the impression that the whale was in fact losing altitude. Barton was reportedly hysterical by the time the museum opened its doors to the public.
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Whether Barton ever discovered the trick is not part of the public record, but the model of the female blue whale, which is 94 feet long and represents the largest animal ever to exist, has been restored and hangs again from the ceiling of the Hall of Ocean Life, its big blue chin once again measuring 11 feet from the floor. The blue whale, built of fiberglass and polyurethane, was based on an actual whale specimen found in 1925. As part of the remodeling of the hall, the whale model was reshaped to reflect the latest research on blue whales. The bulging eyes were streamlined and the tail trimmed. Twenty-five gallons of fresh paint were then applied.
The Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life, named for contributors Irma and Paul Milstein, features updated dioramas of coral reefs, dolphins, seals, sharks and bony fishes. Unlike the museum of old, whose dusty exhibits and dark halls were more eerie than enticing, the American Museum of Natural History has been completely renovated over the last decade, under the direction of President Ellen Futter, and features an updated Hayden Planetarium and numerous dazzling displays that incorporate the latest technology and scientific research. The Hall of Ocean Life reopened on May 17.
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