Marine Mammals
The focus of Te Papa’s marine mammal collection is on those species that occur in the New Zealand region, including the subantarctic islands and Antarctica. But it also includes some material from outside of this region.
The collection is best known for its specimens of beaked whales (one of the family of toothed whales), New Zealand’s native Hector’s dolphins, and New Zealand sea lions. It comprises more than 2500 specimens, making it one of the largest collections of its kind in the world. Almost all of the specimens have come from stranded dead animals.
Specimens of marine mammals are usually kept as skeletons, although we also have a small number of specimens and various body parts preserved in alcohol. We also have some models of whales and dolphins that allow people to see what the animal would have looked like when alive.
The collection is primarily used for research by scientists, from New Zealand and other countries, interested in the variation within and between species, the scientific classification, and the general biology (including diet and distribution) of New Zealand’s marine mammal species. Te Papa staff who care for and study this collection produce books and articles for the general public, and for scientific journals both here and overseas.
You can see a part of the collection in the X-Ray Room in the Mountains to Sea exhibition at Te Papa.
Discover the world of whales on our Whales | Tohorā mini-site.
The primary collections in this area are of the smaller baleen whales, largely pygmy right whales, although we have a small number of specimens of other baleen whales including a complete skeleton of a pygmy blue whale.
This includes collections of dolphins (from the small Hector’s dolphin through to the much larger delphinids such as killer and pilot whales), porpoises, sperm whales (mainly the pygmy sperm whale), and beaked whales.
This collection is largely of New Zealand fur seals and sea lions and Antarctic seals.