The Seymour Marine Discovery Center says it is joining KQED on Sunday, Nov. 8, for a Marine Science Fest celebrating "the return of the community's 87-foot blue whale skeleton": Ms. Blue.
The story of Ms. Blue
According to Wikipedia, Ms. Blue is the largest blue whale skeleton on display in the world. She is 87 feet long and 18 feet tall, and she wasn't fully grown when she washed ashore at Fiddlers Cove near Pescadero on Sept. 6, 1979.
Wikipedia says UC Santa Cruz biologists and students spent about a month removing the flesh and blubber. The skeleton was then taken by helicopter and truck to the marine lab and buried, so that natural decomposers could clean the bones. It was dug up in the summer of 1985. Local geologist and museum specialist Frank Perry cleaned the bones and mounted them on a steel frame, finishing the job in 1986.
While the full skeleton was away, Lookout Santa Cruz reported that the center had put a 10-foot replica of Ms. Blue indoors, next to a new jellyfish tank.
What else is there
Wikipedia says the center opened in its permanent home on March 11, 2000. It is the public outreach and education arm of UCSC's Long Marine Lab, on the Coastal Science Campus at the west end of Santa Cruz. The center has a small aquarium and touch tanks. Lookout reported that the center's first new permanent exhibit since it opened, See More HQ, highlights local coastal-resilience research. That includes a wave model of the destructive December 2024 storm that damaged the Santa Cruz Wharf and harbor.
Visiting
The center lists its regular hours as Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 100 McAllister Way. Check its website for Nov. 8 festival details and current ticket prices. Nearby, Natural Bridges is in monarch season.