The blog is where we'll post news, updates, information about objects in our collection, #betterworkstories, profiles of staff members and visitors, pictures and videos, and really anything we think you'd find interesting. We hope you enjoy.
If there's a topic you'd like us to do a post about, or a post that you think needs a sequel, just let us know!
The Month Ahead @ OM: October
School holidays, and the Museum is abuzz with activity! October offers plenty of events and activities to inspire and excite!
The absolute highlight is the fantastic Life before Dinosaurs: Permian Monsters exhibition – a travelling exhibition from Gondwana Studios. It brings the past back to life with fossilised skeletons and life-size animatronic models of the animals that ruled the world millions of years before the age of dinosaurs. The exhibition also blends art and science with a collection of new artwork that offers a glimpse...
Lighten up!
Welcome to the second in our blog series introducing the science behind some of the new interactives to be revealed when the Tūhura Otago Community Trust Science Centre opens in December. Here, Science Communicator Catriona Gower sheds some light on light! An absence of light means everything appears completely dark, effectively black, yet light is not simply white. Nor is it grey! So what is it? Let’s start at the beginning, and the source of all our energy: the sun. The sun floods us with light and heat (forms of energy) that all life on Earth depends on. The sun produces this...
New science centre name – Tūhura Otago Community Trust Science Centre
Arrival of interactives Media release Otago Museum’s former Discovery World Tropical Forest is undergoing a $2.5 million redevelopment and will reopen in December chock-full of exciting new interactives and with a new name: Tūhura Otago Community Trust Science Centre. This name reflects the dual knowledge bases of scientific understanding and Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to explore and explain the world we live in. Tūhura Otago Community Trust Science Centre is supported by $500,000 in funding from the Otago Community Trust. It will be home to 50 new hands-on science interactives and a refreshed Tropical Forest butterfly house. The centre will also...
Leopard seal pup’s lungs were failing, CT scan shows
A leopard seal pup born off St Kilda Beach, Dunedin, on Tuesday has been found to have had only ten percent of normal lung capacity. The pup was euthanised on Wednesday after a vet determined it could not be saved. NIWA cetacean biologist and leopard seal expert Dr Krista Hupman was part of a team that arranged for a CT and MRI scan of the pup – the first MRI scan carried out on any seal worldwide. Dr Hupman said results showed the pup’s lungs were filled with fluid and were barely working. “Unfortunately this meant if the seal hadn’t been euthanised it would...
In the belly of a trout
A couple of keen outdoors men, Ray Webb and Terry Arthur, touch base with the Natural Science team semi-regularly; we enjoy hearing about their adventures in wild places around Otago. Central otago Landscape Image: Loganburn Reservoir | Astrid Erasmuson Last year they had a successful day brown trout fishing at Loganburn Reservoir, part of the upper tributary of the Taieri River, high in the Lammermoor Range. Terry bagged a five pound (2.2 kg) brown trout, and as they gutted and prepared the fish they found some interesting stomach contents. Crayfish Stomach contents of a large trout, caught by Terry Arthur |...
Rare striped dolphin stranding death on Warrington Beach
A rare species of dolphin was found dead on Thursday 21 September at Warrington Beach, 30 km north of Dunedin. Footage of what appears to be the same animal being encouraged away from the shore by members of the public at Doctors Point on Wednesday has also since appeared on social media. Thursday’s high tides and a heavy swell meant that Department of Conservation rangers and local rūnaka representatives for Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki needed to act quickly to collect the animal from the beach. The dolphin was taken to the Otago Museum to complete the stranding report, which include...
Donation of Museum’s Discovery World interactives
The Discovery World interactives being handed over and installed With the development of the new science centre well underway, exhibits from the now-closed Discovery World are being relocated to new homes. The air cannon and the magnetic crane from the original Discovery World at Otago Museum are being donated to the children’s ward at Dunedin Public Hospital, with the install set to take place on Tuesday 26 September. “The Paediatric inpatient unit uses distraction therapy as part of the holistic care it provides to the children in our service. We are extremely grateful to the Museum for the donation of such items....
INTRODUCING OUR FRONT OF HOUSE TEAM: Q & A WITH THE FACE(S) OF OTAGO MUSEUM
Meet Museum Guide Amanda, who has been working at the Otago Museum for seven months, combining her knowledge of archaeology with her passion for sharing the Museum’s interesting stories with our visitors.
Creative Pasifika showcase: ocean shells and swells
Shells have a special allure. In many Pacific cultures they are transformed into beautiful objects of adornment. For Creative Pasifika 2017, a selection is featured in a special exhibition on the Museum’s Atrium Level 1. The display includes a pearl shell nelo (nose ornament) from the Santa Cruz Islands, given to the Museum by the Reverend George West.
Why does thinking about infinity make my head hurt?
Now that Discovery World Tropical Forest has closed for redevelopment, everyone is asking about the new science centre. With 50 new interactives, there’ll be lots for you to discover. Leading up to the opening in December we’ll explore some interesting topics that you may find in our new science centre. We start with this brain bender ... read on!
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About
Our blog aims to keep you informed of the latest happenings at the Otago Museum, through posts about our collections, our people and our work.
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The views expressed here are those of our individual contributors, and are not the views of the Otago Museum.
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All content of this blog is Copyright Otago Museum, 2017. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the Otago Museum, except for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review, or education, as provided for in the New Zealand Copyright Act 1994.