See you in September!
Our galleries have been empty too long. The countdown is on as we get ready to greet visitors again, starting on the Labour Day weekend. Signage is getting installed, our Welcome Tent is in place, and our staff are eager to welcome you.
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Reserve your tickets now!
Our doors reopen September 5
Our wonderful galleries await, and we've made some changes in order to provide a healthy and enjoyable experience. Rediscover the magic of dinosaurs, the majesty of a blue whale, the mysteries of the Arctic, the amazing diversity of Canadian wildlife and more. Members will be treated to a special preview on August 29 and 30. Find out what you can expect during your visit.
Gaia
A new perspective on planet Earth
An awe-inspiring attraction hanging in our Atrium awaits visitors when we reopen our doors. Appearing in Canada for the first time, the inflated globe called Gaia is one of the latest sculptures by British artist Luke Jerram. This massive artwork is seven metres in diameter and features high-resolution NASA imagery. Each centimetre of the sculpture describes 18 km of the Earth’s surface.
Music and Nature
Take a musical tour of our galleries!
It’s a wrap! This year, we partnered with Ottawa’s Music and Beyond Festival for the Music and Nature series, with 25 videos recorded in our galleries. They feature an eclectic range of music inspired by the natural world. Some pieces were composed just for this series! There’s something to catch the ear of any music-lover, including string quartets, small ensembles, jazz standards, throat-singing, solos for trumpet, harp, harpsichord, percussion and more. Enjoy the musical tour of our museum.
New research
Modern mutant fishes replicate creatures of ancient oceans
A study by our new fish palaeontologist, Dr. Tetsuto Miyashita, shows that an unusual genetic change in the common zebrafish produced a surprising lookalike of species long extinct—jawless fishes from 400 million years ago! The phenomenon revealed in the experiments explains why a real "Jurassic Park" will continue to remain a distant concept, best suited for cinematic storytelling rather than scientific reality.
Inspired by nature
Colouring pages—for children and adults alike!
Fall is around the corner, and with it a return to school. As summer wanes, we offer these nature-themed colouring pages—with Arctic animals, garden plants, dinosaurs and even scientists at work. Find some time to relax and express your creativity.
Behind the scenes
Eggs of a different colour
Our bird collection includes 20,816 eggs. The Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) eggs from this collection all come from the same colony. They were collected in 1994 at the Québec City harbour by the Canadian Wildlife Service, as part of a program to control gull populations. Eggs of birds that nest on the ground, such as gulls, generally have a colouring that serves as camouflage. Among species that live in colonies, eggs often differ quite a bit from one female to another. This helps females identify their nests.
Editor: Laura Sutin
Questions or comments can be sent to lsutin@nature.ca
Photos:
Diorama, Gaia: Martin Lipman
Music and Nature image: Music and Beyond Festival
CT scan of fish skulls: Tetsuto Miyashita
Eggs: Michel Gosselin
