EP Dan's Last Day, Part 3 - Museum of Natural History

In every province in which I will eventually live, I have my major "EP Goals" to complete (see above tab, just below the blog title), but I also plan to make a number of sub-goals, specific for each province. For Nova Scotia, one of those sub goals is to visit each of the province's 27 Provincial Museums.

First up on the list of 27 is the Museum of Natural History. I was quite excited to finally pay a visit to the museum for an official blog trip - I had been here on some other occasions for special events. Additionally, EP Dan was excited to come here because we had missed out on a chance to see the animals during the Nocturne: Art At Night festival back in October, 2010, when the exhibit closed before we had arrived.

(My two-headed turtle picture from my trip to Korea was so popular that I thought I'd include another. I fear this one isn't quite as impressive though...)

(Speaking of impressive water creatures, this is "Francis" the lobster, who was too big for any lobster trap. He actually would have been caught in a net, before being given to the Museum of Natural History.)

One of the major instalments at the Museum is a collection of Mi'kmaw artefacts, clothing and tools. The Mi'kmaw people, which still inhabit the region, had lived in the Maritime provinces of Canada for centuries before contact with European explorers was made.

(This is just a sample of the Museum of Natural History's massive collection of Mi'kmaw quill work on bark - assumed to be the largest collection of its kind in the world.)

The other major collection at the Museum is that of the large underwater animals found around the area. The highlight being the massive skeleton of a pilot whale found stranded on Sable Island, some 300 kms south east off the shore of Nova Scotia.

(A closer inspection of the fins will reveal five finger-like bones. I thought they were interesting.)

The real reason EP Dan and I came to the Museum today though, was to see the exhibit "A T.Rex Named Sue." Named after Sue Hendrickson - the archaeologist who discovered the skeleton - Sue is 42 feet long, and 12 feet high at the hips. Officially it is the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the world. Purchased by the Field Museum in Chicago for $8.4 Million, Sue has been on a world tour, and has been seen by over 10 million people, but Halifax is the first Canadian city ever to host the exhibit.

(Psst... Don't turn around.)

By this time we were both getting a bit tired so feeling lucky to have escaped with our lives, we headed back home. With Dan now gone back home, I'm on my own for the summer. I'm not worried though, what with all of the major festivals coming up again, life will not be boring for long.