France's National Museum of Natural History displayed its prize centerpiece today for an exhibit on biodiversity, a plastinated, 21+ foot-long, giant squid named Wheke. The squid was hauled in by a fisherman in New Zealand in 2001 and was plastinated in Italy by a company called VisDocta Research. The process, in which all of the squid's water, fat and other liquids are replaced with a hardening plastic filling, took two and a half years and cost approximately $100,000.
I am looking forward to plastinating Andrew's dog, Izzy, some day. Maybe for an anniversary gift?
Wheke would be so happy to know that he was immortalized in a space-age polymer plastic.
More info on the plastic squid here.
Also, do yourself a favor and DO NOT, for any reason, visit this post from Deep Sea News unveiling their latest addition to the giant squid song series. What about a song about brave, Wheke, guys? Let's hear it!
Technology
Comments
Is it truly amazing how fake a $100K plastic squid looks, isn't it? But then, plastination kind of makes everything look fake - mammals, too.
Posted by: bioephemera | March 26, 2008 3:58 PM
Hey Bio, got any pics of fake looking plastinated mammals lying around?
Posted by: Benny | March 26, 2008 4:14 PM
Wheke?? *blinks unknowingly*
Maybe my next song will be on those wily, meddlesome Bleiman brothers.
Posted by: kevin z | March 26, 2008 4:53 PM
Wheke is the martyr squid who is hanging plastinated above hordes of crossoint-eating French folks as we speak. He deserves a ballad.
Posted by: Benny | March 26, 2008 5:17 PM
You can freeze-dry your Izzy and he will look like alive, forever. Here, Leo and Snuffy - can you tell which one is freeze-dried?:
http://www.petpreservations.com/story4.html
And if you use mineral oil to re-soak your dried pet, he will become transluscent! Works great as a bedside lamp shade!
Posted by: milkshake | March 26, 2008 6:37 PM
Oh man, milkshake - I went and looked at that site. Creepy beyond belief, even the live cat knows this is just wrong!
OTOH, harmless, if weird.
Posted by: Bee | March 27, 2008 10:18 AM
Hey Bio, got any pics of fake looking plastinated mammals lying around?
Here.
Wheke?? *blinks unknowingly*
Apparently, it's the Maori word for octopus. Also, the name of the Maori octopus-god.
Posted by: HP | March 27, 2008 1:12 PM
Apparently, the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands were mostly spared from the Tsunami of 2004 because they followed the animals to high ground.
Posted by: film | April 22, 2009 6:55 PM