Life-sized wholphin lanterns

Plasticized specimens of wholphin

Life-sized wholphin lanterns and a giant whale specimen have created a fantasy undersea world at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

Six life-sized silk lanterns of wholphinswere lit up on Friday evening. A wholphin is a very rare hybrid of a female common bottlenose dolphinand a male false killer whale. Wholphins have been born in captivity and also reported in the wild.

At “The Tale of Whales” exhibit, the lanterns "swim" over a specially-designed giant blue cube, making visitors to feel like they are deep in the ocean.

Other exhibits includethe lower jaw of blue whale,12 plasticized specimens of wholphins, a life-sized model of the head of massive prehistoric predator Livyatan.There are video programs, art installations and interactive mechanical exhibits.

“The exhibition is so beautiful, especially its lights. Through the audio guide, I got to know a lot about whales’ life histories and body structures and can answer my kid’s questions,” said visitor Cao.

The exhibition features different perspectives, including the relations between whales and humans, whale biology and conservation measures.

Whales are the heaviest known animals in the world, but their ultimate ancestors are indohyus(Indian pig), a small deer-like creature that lived about 30 million years ago. Palaeontologists believe that indohyus was a semi-aquatic mammal like the hippo, and it evolved into whales just because of the lack of mammals in the ocean.

Despite an International Whaling Commission ban on commercial whaling, whale populations are still threatened by climate change and illegal hunting.

The exhibition will run through April 19.

Model heart of blue whale