Media screening of Raising Big Blue, a film about Canada’s largest blue whale skeleton

Event: Advance screening of Raising Big Blue, a documentary about the blue whale skeleton at UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum and preview of the museum’s summer public programs

Date / Time: 10-11 a.m. Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Location: Beaty Biodiversity Museum, 2212 Main Mall
For a map, visit: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/?N046

Parking: Health Sciences Parkade, 2250 Health Sciences Mall
For a map, visit: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/?467


Get a behind-the-scenes look at the journey of Canada’s largest blue whale skeleton, from washing ashore in Prince Edward Island in 1987, to arriving at its permanent home at UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum last year, in Raising Big Blue, a Discovery Channel documentary to premiere on June 5.

The film crew followed the project for three years and documented how the skeleton was first revealed during a preliminary dig in PEI, the triumphs and setbacks of the excavation, and the mystery of the missing flipper that threatened to unhinge the three-year project.

Learn how scientists found ways to clean and degrease 20-year-old whale bones saturated with rancid oil, reconstruct a giant skull that had been broken into dozens of pieces, and transport the 85-foot exhibit into the museum’s glass atrium.

The following will be available for media interviews:

  • Andrew Trites, UBC marine biologist and Blue Whale Project leader
  • Mark Miller, filmmaker
  • Mike deRoos, master articulator, Blue Whale Project
  • Patrick Lewis, director of the UBC Biodiversity Collections

The museum’s summer public program, which includes screenings of Raising Big Blue and other hands-on educational activities for children, will also be unveiled at this media event.

B-roll and images of the film will be available upon request on May 31.

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Contact

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
Email: brian.lin@ubc.ca

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