Jubi will be used as a reminder to the public to keep the oceans clean, said the museum.
Channel NewsAsia 9 Mar 16;
SINGAPORE: An exhibition featuring the skeleton of the sperm whale that washed ashore in 2015 will be open to the public at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum from Mar 15, announced the museum on Monday (Mar 8).
The adult female sperm whale, named Jubilee Whale - or "Jubi" for short - was found off the coast of Jurong Island in July, during the nation’s Golden Jubilee year.
Jubi is the first record of a sperm whale in Singapore waters. However, she is not the first whale to be on display in the country.
“There was a whale on display at the National Museum in the past, but it was given to Malaysia sometime after independence in the 1970s, but that whale was not originally from Singapore, it was from Melaka,” said Mr Marcus Chua, the museum officer for mammal biodiversity at the museum.
“When we opened, many people have been asking us where is that whale. And we have been trying very hard to get it back, but now that we have a whale that was found in Singapore to call our own, this is something to be proud of.”
When the whale was first found, the museum had launched an appeal for funds to preserve the whale. The funds raised then exceeded the S$1 million target.
According to the musuem, half the money raised will go into the exhibition, which will include the mounting of the skeleton and storyboards for the public to learn more about sperm whales, as well as the story of recovering Jubi. The other half of the money will go into research and education efforts for marine biodiversity.
Jubi will be used as a reminder to the public to keep the oceans clean, said the museum.
- CNA/ek
