Whale on record
The Museum is home to a huge collection.
It has more than 80 million specimens, covering billions of years of history.
Among the dinosaurs and beetles, the mammals and Moon rocks, the blue whale is perhaps one of the best-documented specimens in the building.
It has been observed, studied and reported on since the day before its life came to an end.
Researchers and curators now have access to thousands of images, data, archive reports, scans and films about its history as a specimen and its life as a living whale.