Installation of the Gray Whale Skeleton

Mac Stanton, from Sellen, with skull and rib cage.

Gary Shugart in the ribs getting ready to carry them off the truck.

Ribs stored in the geology lab.

Peter holding the ribs securely and the team hooking to the lift to move the ribs to Harned Hall (right) on May 3, 2006.

The team hooking to the lift to move the ribs to Harned Hall on May 3, 2006.

Lifting.

The ribs on parade from the Thompson Hall parking lot down Union Avenue to Harned Hall with Isaac, Albert, Peter and Jerry holding the assembly steady.

Unhooking and getting ready to move into atrium of Harned Hall

The atrium of Harned Hall. There was a whale already in place but it was the wrong color. The beam is hanging from the ceiling mounts 39 feet above the floor and will serve as the temporary hanger for whale assembly and for lifting the whale into place prior to permanent cabling.

The whale ribs are hanging from the beam.

The ribs are hanging from the beam.

The skull is next.

Peter and Jerry hang the skull and check the fit with the rib assembly.

Otto Gockman, museum assistant and work study student, installs the vertebrae with Albert giving advice. The vertebrae were predrilled by Albert. The pipe from the rear of the ribs back to the tail was bent by Albert to give the whale a graceful posture.

Otto and Isaac continues. Albert appears to be giving an impromptu lecture on whale anatomy.

The hanging points on the ceiling were not perpendicular to the skull and the angled bar provided temporary hanging points that matched those on the ceiling for testing the alignment of the skull.

Isaac and Otto on the tail, Albert, Tom, and Peter discuss the initial hanging.

Otto and Isaac finish the tail vertebrae and Gary and Albert discuss finishing details.

Albert and Gary check alignment and skull cabling.

Albert with the whale.

The lumbar vertebrae had healed processes that might indicate an injury that could have eventually contributed to the whale’s death.

Isaac and Otto finish the tail. The whale is hanging from the temporary beam in the final posture at the end of the day 1 on May 3.

Isaac is holding the final tail vertebrae that will be screwed into a fitting in the end of the mounting pipe.

The whale in the morning sunlight on May 4, 2006, prior to hoisting.

Isaac and Jerry use the come-alongs to hoist the whale into place level with the first landing.

Final height from the first landing.

Albert, Bob, Tom, Isaac, Jerry and Peter discuss the final placement, angles and hanging points.

View of the whale skeleton from below.

Jerry installing the 12 1/8" stainless steel hanging cables. He is 39 feet up. No need to worry about the cables. The recommended working load is about 340 lbs and breaking load is 1760 lb. The skeleton weighs about 270 lb and the head about 110 lbs. Each of eight cables on the skeleton carries only about 40 lbs and the four head cables carry about 27 lbs. When cabling was complete, Jerry and Isaac used the come-alongs to lower the whale into place in the cable harness. The alignment was perfect.

Peter tests the placement.

Peter and Albert on the first landing and Isaac on the lift discussing placement.

The final placement from the third floor. The temporary lifting beam is resting on the cables.

The beam was removed by cutting it in half. Isaac passes the front to Peter and Tom.

Final adjustments

The right pectoral fin was permanently attached on day 2 and is held in place with a temporary bracket and rope. The gray material in the "hand" region is epoxy clay and approximates the cartilage in this region.