Those fish always struck me as faintly terrifying. Fascinating specimen, that. I wonder if it is edible; might have gone well with that pancake turtle stew mentioned above.
Now, today's addition: a taxidermical novelty.
Blue whales are extraordinary creatures. They are the largest known creature to have swimmed the Earth. They eat krill, of course. On the brink of extinction, I fear, although their situation is improving. Lovely beings.
Here is a prepared and preserved specimen that they keep in the natural history museum in my city (partially built to accommodate it). It is called the Malmian Whale, after its taxidermist. It is quite big.
Bear in mind that this specimen is practically in his boyhood: a full-grown blue whale would be about twice as large!
He stranded on the coast on a late autumn day in 1865. The poor creature was quite ineptly killed by local fishermen, after which August Malm arrived from the city museum to examine it. It proved to be a remarkable specimen, and it was later butchered and preserved for the museum, and a little tea-room was built inside. Imagine if it had been fully grown; they could have fitted a whole restaurant, no doubt.
Since the mouth is hinged and can be opened, Mr Malm have a long and varied career, for a cetacean. He has been a travelling exhibit to Hamburg and Berlin, a museum café, a polling station and, undoubtedly, host for many kissing couples. He also did his part in the Winter War, during a donation drive, which I find rather sweet; 'A People is in Peril. YOU can help. See the whale for details.' He still opens shop for Christmas, and on the national election day.
He is still a popular visit for school children, and I still find it rather thrilling to see the whale. It is magnificent to think of these titanic creatures.
Here is a picture of a skull from an adult specimen:
Compare it to the size of the skull in the previous picture. 'You're gonna need a bigger museum.'
As a parting reflexion on the subject of whales: their blow-holes are, apparently, their nostrils. It is very peculiar.
