5 minute read
Orca Experiences, Human Sensations
(right) Digital lighting and A/V specialist Thomas Shields testing an early prototype of the touch-free interactive game Orca or Not?.
(middle) Members of the Exhibitions team see how their choices affect orcas and the surrounding oceans on the Ocean Health Game.
(far right) Thomas Shields tests his knowledge of orca vocalization in the Orca or Not? interactive.
Immersive and Interactive Elements in Orcas: Our Shared Future ORCA EXPERIENCES,
The anticipation is building at the Royal BC Museum as the finishing touches are put on our upcoming feature exhibition, Orcas: Our Shared Future. Part of what makes this exhibition so exciting and unique is the addition of sophisticated interactive stations that strive to translate orca experiences into human sensations.
Among the stations is Acoustic Turbulence, by Victoria artist Colton Hash, an interactive artwork that visualizes underwater noise pollution generated by large ocean vessels. An artistic representation depicts the primary sources of noise pollution: engines, sonar and propellers. Their sounds impact the ability of marine organisms to communicate and navigate. Noise pollution is particularly significant to the Southern Resident orcas, as it reduces their ability to hunt through echolocation. Viewers can choose scenes of ships and experience sounds generated by each type. Visitors are invited to answer questions and consider where they stand when it comes to the future of orcas and the potential implications of their personal choices on the resident orca population at the Orca Ethics computer kiosk. The Biology 101 Touch Table allows guests to use a stylus, developed with COVID protocols in mind, to explore a large, multi-touch screen and learn more about orcas’ musculoskeletal, reproduction, echolocation and respiration systems.
Other stations include Orca or Not?, where visitors listen to a series of sounds and guess if they were made by an orca or something else. In the Ocean Health Game, players move different pieces around a coastal environment and witness the impacts of their choices on the health of the ocean. And of course there’s a selfie station where guests can take a photo and spread the word about ocean health, orca protection and the exhibition.
HUMAN Sandra Hudson Communications Consultant SENSATIONS
The exhibition also offers dramatic displays, including three life-size orca replicas and the skeletons of Rhapsody (J32) and her unborn calf. Visitors to Orcas: Our Shared Future will explore currents of ecological activism, popular culture and Indigenous beliefs to gain a deeper understanding of how orcas and humans are inextricably connected.
Full of new ideas and ways of approaching content, and designed to engage all ages, the displays and interactive stations have been shaped with input from orca scientists, marine biologists, Indigenous and nonIndigenous artists, elders and youth, including high school students and home learners.
Visitors to the exhibition and those hoping to visit will want to purchase the beautifully illustrated companion publication that brings together the work of marine biologists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, poets, artists and storytellers. The best-selling Spirits of the Coast: Orcas in Science, Art and History ($29.95; edited by Dr. Martha Black, Dr. Lorne Hammond and Dr. Gavin Hanke, with Nikki Sanchez), is currently available through local bookshops, the Royal Museum Shop and online at rbcm.ca/spirits.
Orcas: Our Shared Future premieres at the museum on April 16 and runs through early 2022. Safety during the pandemic continues to be our priority. COVID-19 health and safety protocols include timed tickets, physical distancing, enhanced cleaning and special hours for vulnerable guests. See full details at rbcm.ca/covidsafety.
For more information about the exhibition and to purchase timed tickets visit rbcm.ca/orcas.
AVAILABLE NOW AT rbcm.ca/spirits
COLLABORATING FOR CONSERVATION
CITIZEN SCIENCE IN BC PARKS
Photographing plants in Top of the World Provincial Park. Photograph courtesy of Jason Headley.
1. Common loons in Downing Provincial Park. Photograph courtesy of Jason Headley.
2. A male rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) photographed in Bodega Ridge Provincial Park on Galiano Island. Photograph courtesy of Jason Headley. 3. Up close with a mason bee (Hoplitis fulgida) all covered in pollen. This photo was taken in South Okanagan Grasslands Protected Area. Photograph courtesy of Thomas Barbin.
4. Royal BC Museum research associate Robb Bennett on the prowl for spiders.
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By Claudia Copley
Entomology Collection Manager and Researcher
British Columbia has the third-largest parks system in North America, with more than 1,000 protected areas. Our new Pocket Gallery showcases how the work of the Royal BC Museum helps to document and conserve British Columbia’s natural heritage and highlights how our research fits into the larger framework of the BC provincial park system.
The featured collaboration involves three different components. The Royal BC Museum’s natural history researchers have been working with BC Parks to undertake inventories in the province’s park system, primarily through botanical and invertebrate specimen collections; at the same time, field technicians from the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University have been documenting species using an app called iNaturalist. In addition to these physical and digital inventories by researchers, citizen scientists are also being encouraged to submit sightings through iNaturalist.
The amount of new information we’ve learned about the biological riches of these protected areas has been truly impressive. The three approaches complement each other excellently, allowing for a much fuller picture than any single effort could provide. We can learn so much more about British Columbia’s protected areas by working together, and every new piece of information adds to the story we can tell about the ecological diversity of our province.
If you would like to learn more about iNaturalist and how to get involved in this effort, be sure to visit the Pocket Gallery in the Royal BC Museum. And if you enjoy looking at exceptional photographs of wildlife, look up at the images being projected on the big screen in Clifford Carl Hall, as well as the stunning backlit panels lining the wall outside of the gallery. We hope these incredible images, and the story behind them, will inspire everyone to get involved in citizen science! Together, park visitors, students and scientists can build an impressive and accurate picture of the biodiversity in British Columbia and work to protect it.
ON NOW IN THE POCKET GALLERY UNTIL AUGUST 11, 2021
10:00 AM–6:00 PM
