Captain Gene Flipse, head of WCA Partner Conscious Breath Adventures has just completed a 16 month collaboration with the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) on their ‘Hope for Humpbacks’ exhibit.

The FLMNH is the State of Florida’s official museum located on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. The FLMNH is a popular destination, with 200,000 visitors annually, and features a butterfly rainforest; an exhibit of Florida fossils; an exhibit on the Florida environment, as well as rotating exhibits. It is also an active research and educational facility that curates 40 million specimens and artefacts. The FLMNH is considered one of the top three university-based natural history museums in the United States.

After 100 years the FLMNH celebrated its centennial in 2017/2018. In preparation for their celebrations the Museum started to assemble a 26′ juvenile humpback whale skeleton affectionately named Humphrey.

After hearing about Humphrey’s impending arrival, Captain Gene contacted the Museum and volunteered to illustrate the exhibit with some of his best photos, video and audio recordings of North Atlantic humpback whales taken on the Silver Bank, Dominican Republic over the past decade.

The result was a gallery of wall photos, and sophisticated interactive touch table displays featuring audio and video recordings, all to help ‘flesh out’ Humphrey for visitors. The colourful exhibit also featured educational information presented with an optimistic outlook while touching on various ongoing threats to humpbacks and cetaceans everywhere.

Originally intended to run for eight months, it is exciting to think that after 16 months, more than a quarter of a million people may have learned a bit more about the animals we all love. Captain Gene and the team from Conscious Breath Adventures thoroughly enjoyed working with the dedicated team at the FLMNH and look forward to any future collaborations.

The original press release from the FLMNH can be found here and Conscious Breath Adventures blog about the exhibit can be read here.