Whales, giant mammals of the oceans, exciting topic for next Saturday Club

Whales are the next topic for the Tate Geological Museum’s popular Saturday Club on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 10:30-11:30 a.m.

According to Russell Hawley, Tate education specialist, whales are the largest animals that have ever lived. “Hardly anything was known about the great whales in the Middle Ages, and natural historians came up with ideas about them that ranged from imaginative to just plain weird,” said Hawley. To demonstrate this lack of knowledge in the Middle Ages, Hawley will show a collection of whale depictions in medieval art and how the invention of scuba diving gear changed how whales were depicted in art.

Students will also see what fossils can tell scientists about whales of the ancient past. “The origin of whales was a complete mystery for many years, but a flood of discoveries in the last couple of decades has revealed a wealth of detail about the origin of whales and revealed the identity of their closest living relatives,” Hawley noted and exclaimed, “The answer may surprise everyone!”

According to Hawley, the session will end with students creating their own diagrams to illustrate how big a whale would look if it were floating next to a human being.

The Tate Geological Museum’s Saturday Club is free and open to children ages 7-14. The Tate is located on the southern end of the Casper College campus; look for the life-sized T.rex bronze near the Tate or call the museum at 307-268-2447.

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