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Whale Skull, Skeleton Part Of New Field Museum Exhibit

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- A one-ton whale skull made it inside the Field Museum with one inch to spare on Tuesday after very slow, painstaking work by a 10-man rigging crew setting up the new "Giants of the Deep" exhibit.

Project manager Tom Skwerski said the one-ton skull joined a complete 60-foot sperm whale skeleton in the exhibit opening May 20 to tell the story of whale evolution and relations with man.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780's John Cody reports

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The exhibit comes from a New Zealand Museum which also sent along a full scale model of a whale heart, which is about the size of a Volkswagen and large enough to walk around in.

Also in display will be a ceremonial meeting house of the Maori people who have lived for centuries in intimacy with the whale population.

The exhibit also describes how whales evolved from a little mammal that decided to make its way into the water, then stayed some 46 million years ago.

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