Cosmic Beginnings

Near where I left off yesterday in the Earth Gallery is a fragment of Moon rock, brought back from the last lunar mission of the Apollo program.

The origins of the universe at large and the solar system in particular are examined here.

Among the artifacts are meteorites.

Northern Land And Rocks

 Above us here is a kayak, standard for the indigenous peoples of the Far North.

In the 19th century the explorer John Franklin led an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. It was to end in disaster, with all hands lost and his two ships only discovered in recent years. Some of the remnants of the Franklin Expedition are displayed in a case here.

I took another shot of the Arctic ice slabs that starts at the beginning.

Departing, I took a look down at Gaia.

Here is a look up at the Moon.

The Earth Gallery is next, with three main types of rocks as the introduction, with samples. First is sedimentary.

Metamorphic rock is next.

And lastly, magmatic rock.

The Prehistory Of The Arctic

This large bone is a mere small section of a bowhead whale's skeleton. Among the Inuit of the Arctic, hunting whales is permitted and part of the culture.

Here we have the polar bear, the mighty giant of the far north.

Moving on, this area begins to look at the Arctic as it was, from millions of years ago to more recent thousands of years ago, with panels and specimens of ancient life, such as puijila darwini.

This is the High Arctic Camel.

Here we have the skull of a mammoth.

Panels look at animals that are long since extinct but once roamed the far north.

Here we have for comparison the same bone of two different species, the contemporary beaver and the giant beaver.

While indigenous peoples were in the far north for thousands of years, in more recent centuries others from the outside began making their way into the area. We'll pick up here tomorrow.

Living In An Inhospitable Land

I left off yesterday mentioning about Arctic hares changing colours by the season. Such is the case with Arctic foxes. 

Display panels accompany displays of taxidermied animals throughout the gallery.

Here we have a snowy owl.

Another look at one of the displays from yesterday. The beluga and narwhal hanging above are lightweight replicas.

The Greenland shark is a resident of cold Arctic waters.

The presence of people in the High Arctic goes back thousands of years, and the presence of indigenous peoples are part of the Arctic Gallery. This artwork is titled Rookery, combining ivory and whale bone. 

And here we have Inuit clothing and accessories derived from caribou.

Diverse Life Within The High Arctic

 Coming around the corner from where we left off yesterday is this view, with some of the larger animals of the Arctic on display.

The diversity of life in the Arctic is examined in panels, photographs, and specimens.

Here is a Snow Goose.

Some more of the birds of the Arctic.

Here we have an adult and calf pair of muskoxen.

The Arctic Hare, seen here in summer and winter coats, changes by the season.