This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Whales are mammals, like humans, and their ancestors once lived on land. So how did they come to be so specialized for life in the sea? Within the exhibition, skeletons of fossil whales show visitors how the whale lineage evolved from land mammals to fully aquatic whales. (C) Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2008
Captain Ahab went insane chasing the elusive Moby Dick. Good news: you don’t have to suffer a similar fate. On May 1 at 6:30pm, Scientific American will co-host a whale-themed tweet-up and reception in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The event is timed to coincide with the recent opening of the museum’s exhibition “Whales: Giants of the Deep,” set to run through January 14, 2014.
Attendees at the tweet-up will come face-to-face with the mightiest, most massive mammals on Earth. They’ll also get to mingle with museum scientists and Scientific American staff, including editors of some of SA‘s foreign-language editions (Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Brazil). Plus, there will be an open bar in the museum’s Hall of Northwest Coast Indians.
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During the tweet-up, visitors may view whale specimens from the Museum’s Mammalogy Collection, see cultural artifacts from the Maori and Pacific Northwest Coast peoples, and listen to whale vocalizations through Scientific American‘s Whale Song Project Whale FM.
Similar to the Beyond Planet Earth tweet-up that Scientific American and the museum co-hosted last year, the event is free to followers of both @sciam and @amnh on Twitter. Space is limited so please apply here to attend.