The Australian National Maritime Museum presents Planet Shark – Predator or Prey : the exhibition on view 27 November – 27 February 2011.
A new exhibition coming to the National Maritime Museum will guide visitors through startling facts and murky myths about sharks… and more than likely raise new respect for the ocean’s oldest and most effective predator.
It will survey the evolution and biology of this great fish, consider its fearful image in popular culture and describe the atrocities that are committed on it.
“The word ‘shark’ is arguably unparalleled in our language for emotive reaction,” says curator Craig Thorburn. “This is a comprehensive and confronting exhibition… one to challenge our human fears, our misunderstandings and ignorance on the plight of the world’s most feared predato.’
Planet Shark – Predator or Prey, on view free of charge, will be the National Maritime Museum’s feature exhibition over the peak summer holiday season.
By way of introduction, the visitor will see 10 life-size and lifelike models of different species of sharks from different parts of the world, the king of these being a record-setting 5.5 metre Great White.
There will be rare fossils dating back 380 million years, real teeth and jaws from a variety of species and displays on the shark’s key senses, its hunting strategies and the vital role these top order predators perform in the underwater ecosystem.
In another area, the exhibition takes a cool look at selachophobia (fear of sharks) and asserts that the 1975 Steven Spielberg movie thriller Jaws, based on Peter Benchley’s novel of the same name, helped raise these fears to epidemic proportions around the world.
Visitors will see a first edition copy of Benchley’s book, signed by the author, and some of the shark-proof cages used in the film.
Planet Shark then represents its subject as prey. It’s estimated that well over 70 million sharks are killed annually just to supply the fin trade, for food and medicines. Most of these sharks are finned alive before being thrown back into the ocean to suffer a slow death by drowning. Several species already been brought close to extinction.
Looking more positively to the future, the exhibition takes a look at conservation efforts already in train, like the Great White satellite tagging program which is helping scientists to learn more about these sharks’ movements around the Australian coast and their life habits.
Planet Shark – Predator or Prey has been made available by Grande Exhibitions of Australia in association with Ocean Zoo (NZ). For more information see www.planetshark.org .
The National Maritime Museum will stage wide-ranging activities for children of all ages in the Christmas New Year Holidays, drawing their attention to sharks, their place in popular culture and the need for conservation.
These will include, for older children, two special NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) workshops, one on TV reporting and presenting (5 & 6 Jan), the other on theatrical drama (12-13 Jan). For information on all these activities, see www.anmm.gov.au/schoolholidays
Image: Australian National Maritime Museum
The Australian National Maritime Museum, at Darling Harbour, is open daily 9.30 am to 5pm (6 pm in January). Admission to its exhibitions is free, admission fees are charged to inspect the museum’s ships and for some school holiday activities For more information, phone (02) 9298 3777 or visit http://www.anmm.gov.au/