If you've never visited the London Natural History Museum then you probably have no idea who Dippy is (I must admit, I didn't know he/she had a name). But it seems that there is a secret underground following for this plaster cast model of a Diplodocus skeleton. After the museum announced today that it would be switching the model skeleton in 2017 with the real skeleton of Whaley (yes, I just made up that nickname, shut up), the 25m skeleton of a whale that was beached in Ireland in the late 1800's.
Petitions and fake twitter accounts have been set up to bring attention to this travesty of museum exhibitions and to convince the museum to reverse it's decision. Sure, it's always sad to see a friend packed in to a storage box in the back of a museum (not from personal experience), but Dippy has had a 35 year long life in the front hall of the museum, which is pretty incredible for a skeleton that isn't even real!
And that's the main argument from the museum for changing the exhibits. Whilst the dinosaur is a paper cast model of a relatively unknown dinosaur, Whaley (this nicknames going to stick, I swear) is a real skeleton of a whale whos life and death are relatively well known. It's also an incredible example of a whale skeleton, with every bone present. Sure dinosaurs have a certain romance to them (if you're in to giant lizards), but at the end of the day it's essentially a papier-mache model. Surely it's better to flaunt off the incredible real life skeletons instead?
But if you're still not convinced by the museums arguments, then go ahead and sign the petition and spam social media with your love for Dippy. But personally, I'm looking forward to welcoming Whaley, to the front hall of a museum I will probably not visit for many years again, in 2017.
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