Natural History Museum Makeover: Goodbye Dippy, Hello Blue Whale! | 自然歷史博物館：拜拜恐龍，哈囉藍鯨
How the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall will look like in 2017 with the Blue Whale display. ©2015 Casson Mann
Lately, Londoners are talking about something other than the weather.
"Save Dippy!" Screams the headline of a local newspaper. "Sign Metro's petition to keep this dinosaur in his rightful place."
After the Natural History Museum announces plans to replace the iconic Diplodocus cast in its entrance hall with a giant, real skeleton of a blue whale, Dippy fans have been lamenting the loss of a childhood companion and struggling with the pending retirement of the replica, which was unveiled in 1905 and has been occupying the prime spot since 1979.
To me, the revamp of Hintze Hall (formally known as Central Hall) and the display of the largest mammal known to man are causes for celebration and renewed excitement. After all, Andrew Carnegie did clone many copies of the dinosaur which were sent to museums around the world (Paris, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Mexico City, etc.), so the only place where you can see Dippy's true form is at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, where the superstar has a dedicated online scrapbook.
However Dippy lovers need not worry about its future welfare. This statement from the museum seems to indicate it's got many more years of adventures ahead.
最近，許多倫敦人最關心的不是天氣。
當地報紙以「拯救迪皮！」為頭條，邀請讀者簽名請願書，一同來保持這隻恐龍在倫敦自然歷史博物館「應有的地位」。
原來，自然歷史博物館宣布計劃，準備於2017年將坐鎮入口大廳已久的恐龍骨架換為藍鯨模型，讓參觀者耳目一新，不料此舉卻挑起許多「迪皮」(Dippy) 粉絲憤怒。
這反應也是情有可原的。「迪皮」雖然不是真正的化石，而是逼真的石膏模型（真跡在美國匹茲堡的卡耐基自然歷史博物館)，但自1905年在倫敦自然歷史博物亮相後，這隻複製品恐龍風靡了全英國，大人小孩都喜歡，1979年才被遷入堂皇的正廳。
我個人是非常期待這新的改變，藍鯨是地球上體型最大的哺乳動物，不難想像親眼看到它掛在頭上的震撼力。
粉絲也不必擔心 Dippy 的退休計劃，看來它反而會更忙，很有可能會到英國各地巡回展覽呢。
“The installation of the blue whale skeleton will be part of a complete re-display of Hintze Hall being undertaken to lay bare the relationship between humans and the natural world.
While planning the whale’s move from its current home in the mammals gallery, the Museum is exploring how the Diplodocus cast can be enjoyed by an even wider audience longer term.”
NHM's "Dippy", a Diplodocus cast that's been occupying Central Hall since 1979. © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
