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Story: Whales

Blue whale skeleton

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Blue whale skeleton

The naturalist Edgar Stead and three others cleaned the skeleton. They worked on the whale for four weeks using knives, slashers, axes and a saw. Here the team poses on some cleaned bones.

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Canterbury Museum

Permission of Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Gerard Hutching, Whales – Blue whales and fin whales, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/7187/blue-whale-skeleton (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Gerard Hutching, published 2 March 2009.