AIBU to think the Natural History Museum are taking the piss?

[JemimaCuddleFuck]

Right now, watching the Horizon documentary on how they moved the blue whale skeleton into the main hall of the NHM and my face is like this

WTAF? The money they must have burned through to move the skeleton. There's the chief guy in charge who had to fly out to California to go whale watching so he could personally witness the dynamics of the whale's movements. Same guy then had to fly to Ireland to have a ganders at the beach where the blue whale washed up.

Then there's the specially designed and custom made contraption used to move the skeleton's head about 20 foot across a room.

And currently watching several curators gingerly using cotton buds to dust a bone that looks about 12 feet in length.

I'm thinking that if this was taking place in the private sector you'd be given half a day to get the whole thing moved, dusted and set up again. And certainly no whale watching trips in the process.

Dippy is coming to Dorset first, not to sure how they are going to fit him in the museum though

I don't get it. What's the problem here, OP?

Stupid archaeologists

Paleontologists .

YANBU can I add about the millions spent on the new gallery at the V&A

YABVU and so judgemental !!

Your OP made me .

The blue whale exhibit is incredible though. I first saw it in my thirties and just stood there like for about ten minutes.

You are definitely being unreasonable but also really flippant about something genuinely incredible. Not one of us would ever get the chance to truly comprehend the scale of this animal (that we actually currently share the planet with, unlike Dippy) but here we are, with free access in our own capital city and every single visitor will be able to be awed by the wonder of our natural world and it's infinite variety.

You sound sad OP. The NHM have done a wonderful thing.

As someone who works in H&S I love how people like that wear hi-vis vests to crawl around the attic dusting the Skelton... just why??

"millions spent on the new gallery at the V&A"

It's awesome the V and A revamp, another lovely space for families to hang out in the summer months and on sunny winter days - the fountains are usually packed.

You made me laugh, OP. You have a way with words!

Apparently they're replacing Dippy with Drippy misses point of thread

Back on topic - YABU. DS loves the Natural History Museum and Dippy, and is genuinely excited about the change - has already asked when we can go next. And when we do, we'll chuck some money in the donation box and buy something from the gift shop - all because of the blue whale. So I suspect they'll easily recover that spend. And even if they don't, surely the point of the museum is to educate - so in this instance getting a 7 year old to think beyond the dinosaurs - DS has learnt loads just from the coverage today. How is that a bad thing?

People who string bones together dont need to see actual live animals and how they move, because bones aren't live animals /s

I'm sure Dippy has been there longer than the late 70s. I'm sure I remember him from the 60s. I knew Dippy wasn't real, he's a model. We always used to go to see the blue whale when I was a kid but it wasn't bones, it was a full model and everyone used to try to chuck coins onto the tail from the gallery

You sound like someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing

Yep.

In the private sector, it would be a plastic whale that talks to you and they'd charge a £20 entrance fee.

Dippy on tour makes me think of the Disney film one of our dinosaurs is missing...

I've recorded the program as my 7 and 10 year olds will be engrossed. I'm sure 'Drippy' will be on our visit list sometime soon and like others, we'll pop some money in the donation box and buy something from the gift shop too.

I'm going to really upset you here OP. The Blue Whale was in the entrance hall (Hintz Hall) to start with (well when i went to school in South Ken, early 1970s) and they moved Dippy in and the whale out. So they have wasted all that public money twice.

YABU
glad to see we still have something to be proud of in this country

YABU. Private sector would have sent CEO and 3 other members of the senior leadership team to a "conference" in Hawaii, obstensibly to learn all about how other CEOs have monetized skeleton moves in the past but that just happened to include four dinners at Michelin starred restaurants and several rounds of golf at world renowned courses to "enhance networking opportunities". He would then send the project manager on a two day PowerPoint presentation in Slough that would include everything from "Whale biology" to "how to drive a fork lift truck" but would mainly cover contract checklists, how to minimize costs by making the project a scheme for government apprentices without hiring anyone with actual qualifications and how to report up the chain.

Then in 15 years time once the Whale has been seen by 4 million people, including 80% of the people who will ever actually need to know anything at all about blue whales, they will issue a surprised apology that half the rib bones are missing and they had the jaw bone and flippers upside down - leading to years of scientists thinking that blue whales could actually eat seals, couldn't dive to the depths previously assumed and helping make the current species survival plan about half as effective as anticipated.

The NHM is by far the best museum anywhere and I have been to lots.
It is invaluable. You cannot put a price on it.
I like it so much that I am a member.
My 4 year old grandson rang me tonight. He is beside himself with excitement about going to see the whale tomorrow. As is his 8 year old sister. Going to the NHM is the best treat ever. And it is free.
OP, if you don't like it don't go.

The Natural History Museum gets 5 million visitors a year, and there is no entrance fee. Most visitors will go away having learned something. The NHM also carries out important scientific research and is an incredibly valuable national institution.

I suspect they know rather more about the movement and exhibition of whale skeletons, and the interest of whales to the public, than you do. YAB massively U.

Christ, OP, it's a joyless little world you live in, isn't it? Come and visit ours instead; it's a lot nicer.

Oh yeah YADBU, soz. I haven't seen the programme but it's tv - they love to get three thousand people dusting the same bit of pot, or create a bit of false jeopardy around windows and doors (ever seen Grand Designs?). Also, ^what they said. It's free, well important, an inspiring place. I'm a bit sad about Dippy but shifting baselines.. my kids will remember the whale and that's ok.

I was awe inspiring. You should see it before spouting shite.