Marine Science

The Duke Marine Lab welcomes the addition of a goose-beaked whale skeleton to Pivens Island.  The skeleton was installed in Repass Hall, connected to the ceiling in the building's central gathering space.  Here visitors can sit on a couch, gazing from the Rachel Carson reserve to the water to the complete skeleton above them.  

How did the skeleton transition from marine mammal to an art install?  Bonehenge Whale Center in Beaufort, NC provides the support and expertise to research, prepare, and exhibit stranded whale specimens. "Cuvier's beaked whale (AKA goose-beaked whale) from stranding to skeletal display" documents the five year process.  Duke graduate students interview Bonehenge owner Keith Rittmaster to discuss how "marine mammal science connects human together."

Some interesting facts about this particular skeleton:

• It was initially recorded as a "unidentified species".
• Once the decision is made to save, study, display the bones, the process for the necropsy changes.
• Typical of deep-divers, the species has only one pelvic remnant.
• The cause of death is unknown.
• This whale is more comfortable 3,000-5,000 feet deep in the ocean than at surface level.
• The skeleton is coated with book binding glue.

You may notice that this page refers to the skeleton as the goose-beaked whale but other references refer to the species as Cuvier's beaked whale.  Duke students learned about Georges Cuvier, a key figure in early paleontology, in Professor Heather Vermeulen's, the McCurdy Visiting Scholar, Critical Marine Studies course. Professor Vermeulen led discussions about Cuvier's engagement with Sarah Bartman and the scientific racism in which he engaged.  As a result, students are passionate about referring to the skeleton by the goose-beaked name.  

NOAA Fisheries, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),  is responsible for the stewardship of the nation's ocean resources and their habitat.  In addition to supporting US fisheries, NOAA Fisheries protect marine species with a goal of providing a health ecosystem for growth and sustainability. Learn more about the goose-beaked whale species and other species, regions or related topics.  

• Mysterious beaked whale smashes mammal diving record
• Seeing with Sound: Acoustic monitoring of beaked whales
• Extreme diving in mammals: first estimates of behavioural aerobic dive limits in Cuvier's beaked whales
• First Long-Term Behavioral Records from Cuvier’s Beaked Whales (Ziphius cavirostris) Reveal Record-Breaking Dives
• Clicks from Cuvier’s beaked whales, Ziphius cavirostris
• An Osteological Study of the Cuvier's Beaked Wahle, Ziphius Cavirostris, in the Northwest Pacific

• Voices in the Sea

• Sounds of the Beaked Whale

Alexis Pauline Gumbs reading and meditating on Lucille Clifton’s poem “atlantic is a sea of bones”

https://vimeo.com/14916291

Michaela Harrison’s co-recording with humpback whales, “We Are One: Ancestral Flow" (16 mins.), which Gumbs cites as an inspiration for her work

https://www.michaelaharrison.org/we-are-one-ancestral-flow

Duke students gather in Repass Hall to creatively engage with the whale skeleton.