In July 2017, the Natural History Museum unveiled a blue whale skeleton named Hope: the new star of its reimagined Hintze Hall.
Image credit: © Trustees at Natural History Museum London
Hope took the place of Dippy the Diplodocus, the iconic dinosaur skeleton cast that was on display in Hintze Hall from 1979 until January 2017. Fondly known as the nation’s favourite dinosaur, it was gifted to the Museum in 1905 – and was the first ever full skeleton cast of a sauropod dinosaur displayed anywhere in the world.
Image credit: © Trustees at Natural History Museum London
Now, the stunning 25.2-metre-long blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling takes centre stage in the spectacular space, giving visitors the opportunity to walk underneath the largest creature ever to have lived.
The skeleton is from a whale that became stranded in 1891 in Wexford Harbour, Ireland, 10 years after the Museum opened in South Kensington. It was bought by the Museum and first displayed in the Mammal Hall in 1934.
The Natural History Museum chose to name the female blue whale Hope, as a symbol of humanity's power to shape a sustainable future. Blue whales were hunted to the brink of extinction in the twentieth century, but were also one of the first species that humans decided to save on a global scale.
Image credit: Two by Two photography
Flowers - Mary Jane Vaughan
It is possible to hire Hintze Hall, as well as other spaces across the Museum for a whole host of events, from weddings and intimate receptions to private parties and conferences.