May is the month for remembering the greatness of the great auk and why its tale of extinction is one we should not forget. The flightless great auk, Pinguinus impennis, is one of the most powerful symbols of the damage humans can cause. The species was driven extinct in the 19th century as a consequence of centuries of intense human exploitation.

At a free talk here tomorrow afternoon, Museum scientist Robert Prys-Jones will explore the Life and Death of the Great Auk, with particular reference to the Museum's own iconic Papa Westray great auk specimen.

This celebrated Museum specimen, shown below left, is the only British example of this bird in existence. It was collected 200 years ago in May 1813 from the tiny island of Papa Westray, one of the outer Orkney Islands. The great auk talk is being webcast live for those of you who can't make it here to the Museum's Attenborough Studio.

Left: The Museum's rare Papa Westray great auk.
Right: Specially commissioned great auk taxidermy model on show in our Extinction exhibition.

I spoke to our bird curator Jo Cooper before she set out for the great auk bicentenary festival being held in the Orkney Islands this weekend, 17-19 May. She explained a bit about the history of our treasured great auk specimen and the importance of the festival.

'I’m making a pilgrimage to the tiny island of Papa Westray where one of the Museum’s most iconic specimens was collected 200 years ago this month. The Papa Westray Great Auk was one of the last of its kind in Britain, and is the only known surviving British example of this bird which went globally extinct in the mid-1840s.

 

'The Papa Westray specimen was purchased by the British Museum in 1819, after its original owner, William Bullock, sold up his entire vast collection of natural history specimens and other curios in a sale lasting 26 days.'

Fowl Craig on the island of Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands, home of the last British great auks. A pilrimage to this spot takes place during the great auk festival this weekend.

'Sadly, our rare specimen is now too fragile to travel safely, so the Museum and Site-Eye Time-Lapse Films have produced a 3D ‘virtual’ Papa Westray Great Auk so that people can still have an encounter with this historic specimen. The virtual auk will be premiered on the island that the original specimen came from, but we have plans to show it more widely later in the year.

 

'We hope that by helping tell the story of the Papa Westray Great Auk during this festival, people will have a greater understanding and appreciation of what has been lost forever from our British bird community and perhaps this will inspire a greater care of what we have.'

You can discover more about the great auk's plight in our Extinction exhibition here at the Museum and get close to a specially-commissioned taxidermy model of a great auk diving. Or go on a Museum trail and find another great auk specimen on display (left) in our Treasures Cadogan Gallery.

Follow The Life and Death of the Great Auk webcast live

Visit the Extinction: Not the End of the World? exhibition

Discover more about the great auk on our website

Read about the Papa Westray great auk in our Treasures book

The weather looks set to be fine for the May bank holiday weekend, so why not head down to the south coast where you can join our scientists and other festival-goers at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival?

Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, 3-5 May, full of fossil discoveries, arts, entertainment and coastal treasures. Select all images to enlarge.

The 8th annual Lyme Regis Fossil Festival on Dorset's renowned Jurassic coast is taking place from 3 to 5 May. The theme of this year's festival is 'Coastal Treasures' and as well as the fossil displays and talks, there is an abundance of entertainment for all ages. Perhaps a toe or two will be dipped in the sea too...

Get a glimpse of the experience in the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival's video

A big team of our scientists and learning staff have already set off for Lyme - we are regular partners of the event - and they will be setting up stalls in the Grand Marquee's Fossil Fair, which is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday.

Mapping the Lyme rocks the mobile way on a coastal walk.

Among the intriguing specimens the scientists will display and discuss are ammonites, fish, sharks and a replica Baryonyx skull. They will join many others on fossilteering walks on the beaches and be leading hands-on activites like sieving for sharks' teeth, identifying visitors' fossil finds, and revealing the wonders of the 407-million-year-old Rhynie Chert rock deposit.

Museum specimens on display this year: Fish and shark specimens found in Lyme Regis (left). Ammonite 'death assemblage', a common fossil found in Lyme Regis (right).

Nearer home in South Kensington, we're linking up live on video to the festival in our free Nature Live fossil talks in the Attenborough Studio on both Saturday and Sunday (12.30 and 14.30) if you're visiting the Museum.

There is, of course, a vast array of incredible fossils in the Museum itself, but specially look out for Fossils from Britain gallery, the Fossil Marine Reptiles gallery and our Earth Lab on your next visit.

• Follow our Lyme Regis Fossil Festival scientists in their blog
• Find out more about the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival on their website
• Explore our fossils website