The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has over 18,000 specimens in its marine mammal bone collection, notably featuring a rare 8.5-foot adult Rice's whale skull. This collection is so large — in both size and scale — that it has outgrown the museum.

Most of the collection is located in an airplane hangar in the Museum Support Center in Maryland. Here's a deep dive into where the Smithsonian gets these bones, how they're cleaned, why it has them, and how they're maintained.

Credit (MOTE Marine Lab) 2:50-2:55

0:45 - Meet John
1:03 - 80-foot long blue whale
1:33 - Rice's whale
3:10 - Whale vertebrae
4:07 - Beaked whales and dolphin heads
4:30 - Pygmy sperm whale
4:52 - Dermestid beetles
5:46 - Composting beaked whale skull
7:14 - Mounting Rice's whale skull
7:40 - Rice's whale fractures and bruises

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How Whale Specimens Get Devoured For The Smithsonian's 18,000 Bone Collection | Colossal Collections