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In the heart of London
is an incredible world.

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The Natural History Museum,

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home to 8O million sensations
of nature

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from dinosaurs to whales,

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giant squid
to billion-year-old rocks.

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It's probably the most important
fossil of a dinosaur

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that there is anywhere in the world.

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Now, our cameras have been allowed
behind the scenes...

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This rather large crate
reminds me of something

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from the movie Indiana Jones.

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...to meet the team...

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...keeping it up and running...

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Who's a good boy?

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I think they're gorgeous.

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...welcoming up to five million
visitors a year...

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...and bringing its unrivalled
treasures to life?

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So this is the oldest thing
that we have in the museum.

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It's actually older than
the solar system.

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In this episode, the museum prepares
for its biggest-ever exhibition.

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You've got wizarding world
and magic and you've got a dinosaur.

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What else do you need?

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A major new investigation
about its star attraction.

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And getting up close and personal

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with some of the museum's
strangest specimens.

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See those little faces?
Aren't they cute?

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You are looking at
the backside of a maggot,

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which always makes me giggle.

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Here we go, to infinity and beyond!

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This is the Natural History Museum

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as you've never seen it before.

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The Natural History Museum holds
the greatest natural history

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collection in the world.

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Thousands of visitors flood
through its doors each day to see

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everything from dinosaurs to dodos,

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sea monsters to giant sloths.

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And the star attraction that draws
the biggest crowds is Hope,

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a giant skeleton of the largest
mammal on Earth, the blue whale.

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The first time people come
in and they see her

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diving down towards them,
there's a lot of wow moments

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and the children are great,
they're like...

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Every visitor to the museum
will pass under

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this four-and-a-half-tonne,
25-metre-long skeleton.

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And checking she's safe to hang high
over their heads is a crucialjob

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that can only happen out of hours.

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It won't be a good look, Rob,
if you crash into it.

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OK, I'm just saying.

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Today a team of specialists are
checking her over...

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Big bit coming, look.

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Ooh, look at that.

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...led by Head of Conservation,
Lorraine Cornish.

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So you can appreciate access to Hope
is very challenging for us.

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She looks magnificent, but looking
after her takes a little bit

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more time and thought.

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When you're 130 years old,
like Hope,

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your skeleton is fragile,

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so needs to be kept under
constant watch.

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We go through the whole length
of the skeleton.

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Bit like a medical record
where you check through

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and then an inspection.

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Just less is more.

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I just need him to make sure
less is more, all right?

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No more, Rob. Back off.

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As soon as they get up close,

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the team spot that Hope
needs attention.

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Underneath the skull
in the palate area

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there's quite a few cracks.

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And on some of the vertebrae
they're quite large and heavy.

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They've got some cracks and joins.

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Are they opening up any more?

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Are they stable?

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They now have just three clays
to check over 200 bones

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to make sure she's secure.

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Even though Hope's been in the
museum for over a century,

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very little is known about her life,

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but that might all
be about to change.

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Behind the scenes, hundreds of
world-class experts

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are uncovering secrets
about the natural world.

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Richard Sabin has been
the museum's whale specialist

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for the past 29 years...

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...and he's embarking on a new
investigation into Hope.

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This rather large crate,

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which reminds me of something
from the movie Indiana Jones,

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actually contains a surprising
part of Hope.

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The crate contains parts
from Hope's vast mouth.

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This is the filter mechanism,
the strainer that blue whales

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have inside their mouths
to strain their food from the ocean,

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things like krill, small fish.

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We've got about 800
of these inside this crate

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and this isn't something
that people get to see.

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This is something that scientists
get to play with,

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and I'm in
a very privileged position.

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You know, we've had Hope
in our collections

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for just under 130 years

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and she's effectively been a mystery
for most of that time.

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I've made it my personal mission
to basically become a detective

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and find out as much information
as possible about Hope's life,

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to add flesh, if you like, to the
bones to really develop that story.

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Today, Richard's taking tiny samples
from Hope's mouth plates,

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which will be analysed using
cutting-edge techniques

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to reveal new information
about her life.

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This is where it starts to look
a little bit like I'm a drug dealer.

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This may just look like dust, but
actually it's very important dust...

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...and we've developed techniques now
that allow us to extract

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very, very detailed information
using chemical analysis

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from these individual plates,

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and this will be used to answer
more questions about Hope's life.

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Richard is hoping the samples will
tell him exactly where Hope lived

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and how far she travelled.

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But first they must be sent
to a specialist lab

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before he gets his answers.

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The dinosaur gallery is one of the
most popular and terrifying spaces

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in the museum,

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housing skeletons of T Rex
and triceratops...

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...alongside life-size
animatronic models.

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So if something goes wrong,

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it's a big problem.

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This morning, engineers Alex and
Glenn have had an urgent call-out

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to one of the malfunctioning
robotic dinosaurs.

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So this one we think needs to have
the back of his neck looked at.

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There are a lot of children
genuinely terrified of these things.

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Recently these models were taken
down into our workshops

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and had the fur
and the feathers added,

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rather more like the fluffy toys
we sell in the gift shop.

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The motor in its neck
has stopped working

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and now the dino's head
won't move properly.

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To avoid some
very disappointed kids,

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it's crucial they get it
up and running

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before the museum opens for the day.

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We've got deadlines
to stick to here.

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We've got the public in in half
an hour so we've got to get this

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down into the workshop
and have a closer look.

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Can you make this part move, Glenn?

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The head turn, that one.

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Alex and Glenn need to open her up.

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Children come to the museum
and expect to see them working.

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It's a big disappointment
when they're not.

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It's one of the things
that people complain about

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if the dinosaurs are not working.

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Fortunately, with a spanner, a spare
part and a bit of elbow grease...

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Right, let's get it back upstairs.

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...the dino is up and running again.

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I'll have it running before ten.

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He says he feels better.

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That's a job well done.

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Children will be in in half an hour.

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Back to terrifying the kids.

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Coming up,
Lorraine is up against it.

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This is where the magic
is going to happen.

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This is where the exhibition
is going to be.

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And the world's most-prized
dinosaur fossil.

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I'm a little bit scared to touch it.

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It's just absolutely priceless.

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It's impossible to put a value
on this specimen.

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The Natural History Museum
is gearing up

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for the biggest exhibition
it's ever held.

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Fantastic Beasts:
The Wonder of Nature

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is inspired by the famous movie
about the wizarding world,

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and the museum needs it
to be a huge hit.

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They'll be displaying fantastical
creatures from the film

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alongside some of the real-life
animals that inspired them.

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This is where the magic
is going to happen.

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This is where the exhibition
is going to be.

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But time is tight for Head
of Conservation, Lorraine Cornish,

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who has just weeks before
it's set to open to the public.

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So now we're ready to start
installing over 120 objects.

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It will take six people
a month to do that

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so everyone's getting
all the specimens ready

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and then this space
will be so busy with people

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right up to the 11th hour, normally.

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Literally the night before,
we're usually still doing things.

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Today, Lorraine is getting her first
peek at some very special items

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from the film that have just arrived
from Warner Brothers.

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With thousands of fans expected to
visit the exhibition,

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it's vital that everything
is in perfect condition

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and it doesn't disappoint.

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These are super special,

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so I want to make sure
we're looking after them.

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This very large, odd-looking thing
is the horn of an erumpent,

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which is one of the fantastic beasts
in the film.

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We're just checking it over to make
sure everything's as it should be.

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There are some cracks here,
but they're deliberate.

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They're not ones I should be worried
about, so that's OK.

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It's not every day you handle
an erumpent horn, though.

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Few people can say that.

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It's just great. It's such fun.

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The erumpent is one of the fantasy
creatures that escapes

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from Newt Scamander's suitcase

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and is a bit like
a magical rhinoceros.

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So this is Newt's suitcase

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and who wouldn't be excited
at carrying it?

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So Newt Scamander
is the main character

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and he's what's called
a magizoologist

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and he goes around the world

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and he looks for and studies
fantastic beasts.

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Getting all this stuff out

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is like Christmas and birthday
rolled into one.

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This is the wand for Newt Scamander.

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I so wish I had the magic wand.

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Sometimes I just want to say,
"exhibition ready" and it's done.

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Having unpacked today's movie props,

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Lorraine now has
just over 100 to go,

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including the exhibition showpiece -

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a brand-new dinosaur.

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The Natural History Museum is home
to over 8O million different items,

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but its rarest are kept under
lock and key,

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hidden away at the back
of the museum's main hall

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in the Treasures Gallery.

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Today, one of the museum's dinosaur
experts, Susie Maidment,

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has been granted special access

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to examine the most-prized fossil
in the entire museum.

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This is Archaeopteryx.

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It's probably the most important
fossil of a dinosaur

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that there is anywhere in the world,

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and I'm a little bit scared
to touch it.

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It's just absolutely priceless.

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It's impossible to put
a value on this specimen.

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At 147 million years old,

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this bird-like dinosaur
is so highly valued

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because it was the first fossil
to reveal that every species of bird

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alive today evolved from dinosaurs.

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Susie's been at the museum
for two years

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and is one of the very few
experts allowed this close.

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She's making a record of the fossil
for other specialists to study.

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It is a bit stressful
being this close to it.

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This case is almost never opened.

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It's very, very exciting for me
to be able to have my head

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inside it right now and to be able
to get a really close

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look at this fossil
without the glass in the way.

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Archaeopteryx was discovered
in Germany in 1861

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and has been at the museum
for over 150 years.

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And it's the mix of its features
that makes it so intriguing.

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This specimen has a number
of characteristics of both

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dinosaurs and birds.

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We have these beautiful feathers

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which are so characteristic
of birds.

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We've also got a wishbone,

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which is a bone in the shoulder
region which helps birds fly.

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And we've got a claw on the foot

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that allows the birds
to perch on branches.

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There are also a number of quite
clearly dinosaurian-like features.

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You can see it's got a very,
very long tail and we don't

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have tails in modern birds
that aren't just made of feathers.

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So these sorts of features make
it much more similar to dinosaurs

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than to birds.

245
00:14:32,818 --> 00:14:35,153
I thinkjurassic Park has a huge
amount to answer for,

246
00:14:35,178 --> 00:14:37,993
for our opinions
about what dinosaurs look like.

247
00:14:38,018 --> 00:14:41,232
We tend to think of dinosaurs
as being these kind of big, scaly,

248
00:14:41,257 --> 00:14:43,033
reptilian-like animals.

249
00:14:43,058 --> 00:14:44,843
But actually what we now know

250
00:14:44,868 --> 00:14:47,403
is that many of the meat-eating
dinosaurs were feathered

251
00:14:47,428 --> 00:14:50,713
and I think this kind of changes
our opinion about

252
00:14:50,738 --> 00:14:52,562
what dinosaurs might have been like.

253
00:14:54,428 --> 00:14:57,053
They were probably very bird-like
in their behaviour

254
00:14:57,078 --> 00:14:59,613
and actually many of them we
wouldn't have been able to

255
00:14:59,638 --> 00:15:01,893
distinguish from birds today.

256
00:15:01,918 --> 00:15:04,093
And I think when you look at
some types of bird,

257
00:15:04,118 --> 00:15:06,303
if you've ever looked
an ostrich in the eye,

258
00:15:06,328 --> 00:15:08,653
I think they look a bit
like dinosaurs, actually.

259
00:15:18,198 --> 00:15:20,893
Everyone who works at
the Natural History Museum

260
00:15:20,918 --> 00:15:23,093
has a favourite part
of the collection,

261
00:15:23,118 --> 00:15:26,653
including housekeeping supervisor
Debbie Marlow.

262
00:15:26,678 --> 00:15:29,733
Hers are the ancient skulls
and skeletons.

263
00:15:29,758 --> 00:15:32,973
We are now entering Human Evolution.

264
00:15:32,998 --> 00:15:35,893
This is my lovely heads.

265
00:15:35,918 --> 00:15:38,143
I think they're gorgeous!

266
00:15:38,168 --> 00:15:40,013
I mean, look at their lovely faces.

267
00:15:41,888 --> 00:15:43,423
Nice chiselled eyebrows.

268
00:15:44,998 --> 00:15:46,582
Nice dinky little ears.

269
00:15:48,168 --> 00:15:49,613
Very handsome.

270
00:15:50,678 --> 00:15:53,653
I'm giving them a lovely massage now

271
00:15:53,678 --> 00:15:55,332
cos they deserve it.

272
00:15:55,357 --> 00:15:56,943
It's my little salon.

273
00:15:58,318 --> 00:16:01,223
Debbie's favourite gallery
displays skulls, skeletons

274
00:16:01,248 --> 00:16:05,223
and models of early humans going
back seven million years.

275
00:16:08,558 --> 00:16:10,093
He could do a bit of a haircut.

276
00:16:10,118 --> 00:16:11,783
I'll have to tidy that up.

277
00:16:11,808 --> 00:16:14,173
Beard needs doing.

278
00:16:14,198 --> 00:16:16,653
I think any barber would love
to have him.

279
00:16:18,678 --> 00:16:20,293
It looks quite cheeky, actually.

280
00:16:20,318 --> 00:16:22,293
He's quite a cheeky chappy,
isn't he?

281
00:16:22,318 --> 00:16:24,423
He's like, "Hey, baby!"

282
00:16:26,068 --> 00:16:30,252
"All right. Oh, yeah. I'm all
right, ain't I? What you think?"

283
00:16:30,277 --> 00:16:31,863
He's one of them.

284
00:16:31,888 --> 00:16:34,173
"Hey, look at me!"

285
00:16:34,198 --> 00:16:35,893
He's definitely not my type, though.

286
00:16:35,918 --> 00:16:39,372
He can smoulder as much as he wants,
it's not working on me. Sorry, love.

287
00:16:39,397 --> 00:16:41,653
Should have jeans and T-shirt on.

288
00:16:41,678 --> 00:16:44,173
He'd be all right then.

289
00:16:44,198 --> 00:16:46,372
Look, do that - censored!

290
00:16:47,558 --> 00:16:50,733
Should put a big warning up
before everyone comes in.

291
00:16:50,758 --> 00:16:54,693
Ready for everyone to come
and have a good look at him now

292
00:16:54,718 --> 00:16:56,332
in all his glory.

293
00:16:59,448 --> 00:17:02,863
Over in the museum's main
hall, the conservation team

294
00:17:02,888 --> 00:17:05,863
have been investigating
the cracks in Hope,

295
00:17:05,888 --> 00:17:08,903
the museum's 50-year-old
Blue Whale.

296
00:17:11,558 --> 00:17:15,013
Now, Head of Conservation Lorraine
is giving the museum star exhibit

297
00:17:15,038 --> 00:17:19,733
a final inspection to ensure
she's safe for the thousands

298
00:17:19,758 --> 00:17:22,783
of visitors who will walk
underneath her.

299
00:17:25,008 --> 00:17:28,423
So this will take me up,
up and away...

300
00:17:29,808 --> 00:17:32,252
...so that I can get up close
and personal with Hope

301
00:17:32,277 --> 00:17:33,733
and have a look.

302
00:17:34,888 --> 00:17:37,973
Here we go, to infinity and beyond.

303
00:17:42,708 --> 00:17:45,533
I always worry that I'm going to go
and hit her, but I know I won't.

304
00:17:49,527 --> 00:17:52,063
I don't mind heights,
but this is quite wobbly,

305
00:17:52,088 --> 00:17:55,252
so the height's all right, but then
when it starts to wibble-wobble...

306
00:17:57,708 --> 00:17:59,372
...it can be tricky.

307
00:18:00,708 --> 00:18:03,293
I'm looking at cracks,

308
00:18:03,318 --> 00:18:07,372
so the mandibles
are amazingly heavy,

309
00:18:07,397 --> 00:18:10,372
and if you can imagine,
the structure is being supported.

310
00:18:12,088 --> 00:18:15,423
So we're really looking at
structural stability.

311
00:18:15,448 --> 00:18:19,143
We're just watching some
of the historic older cracks

312
00:18:19,168 --> 00:18:21,733
so that they're not opening up.

313
00:18:21,758 --> 00:18:25,013
We have to just make sure
that we're happy with those cracks.

314
00:18:25,038 --> 00:18:27,013
They haven't opened any wider.

315
00:18:27,038 --> 00:18:30,223
That's why we take lots of pictures
and just keep an eye on things.

316
00:18:32,527 --> 00:18:35,813
Fortunately, Hope's cracks
haven't opened up

317
00:18:35,838 --> 00:18:37,973
and she can be passed as secure.

318
00:18:37,998 --> 00:18:40,143
SHE SIGHS

319
00:18:40,168 --> 00:18:42,372
Here we go.

320
00:18:47,758 --> 00:18:49,452
Job done for now.

321
00:18:52,708 --> 00:18:54,613
Lovely, lovely.

322
00:18:58,638 --> 00:19:03,143
Behind closed doors, whale expert
Richard Sabin is trying to uncover

323
00:19:03,168 --> 00:19:06,572
the mysteries of Hope,
the Blue Whale's life.

324
00:19:07,808 --> 00:19:11,533
He's keen to find out exactly
where Hope may have lived

325
00:19:11,558 --> 00:19:14,502
and how far she travelled.

326
00:19:14,527 --> 00:19:17,683
It's been weeks since he sent Hope's
samples for investigation,

327
00:19:19,118 --> 00:19:22,783
He's received the results
and they're extraordinary.

328
00:19:24,558 --> 00:19:27,973
The analysis of the chemical make-up
of Hope's mouth plates means

329
00:19:27,998 --> 00:19:32,372
he can now chart previously unknown
details of where she migrated

330
00:19:32,397 --> 00:19:35,143
during the last few years
of her life.

331
00:19:35,168 --> 00:19:39,013
What we're actually looking
at here is Hope's journey,

332
00:19:39,038 --> 00:19:42,533
1886 into 1897.

333
00:19:42,558 --> 00:19:46,063
This is the route that she would
have took from the north

334
00:19:46,088 --> 00:19:50,783
between Iceland and Norway,
south towards Cape Verde.

335
00:19:50,808 --> 00:19:53,013
Then we have her return journey.

336
00:19:53,038 --> 00:19:56,013
This is her going north again.

337
00:19:56,038 --> 00:20:00,813
We can see that every year Hope
was effectively doing a round trip

338
00:20:00,838 --> 00:20:04,372
from the feeding grounds
in the north,

339
00:20:04,397 --> 00:20:08,533
down to the warmer waters
off the west coast of Africa.

340
00:20:10,808 --> 00:20:13,622
Looking at this distance on the map,

341
00:20:13,647 --> 00:20:17,653
you're talking about 6,000 miles
in the space of a single year.

342
00:20:17,678 --> 00:20:19,452
That's remarkable for any animal,

343
00:20:19,477 --> 00:20:21,173
let alone an animal
that's out in the ocean.

344
00:20:24,168 --> 00:20:28,013
The fact that I'm plotting a journey
that was made by a Blue Whale

345
00:20:28,038 --> 00:20:33,863
over 140 years ago really does quite
blow my mind in all honesty.

346
00:20:33,888 --> 00:20:38,213
And to think that we could actually
add information about her life

347
00:20:38,238 --> 00:20:42,063
in so much detail,
it makes it very emotional.

348
00:20:42,088 --> 00:20:44,572
It's something that you don't
normally encounter

349
00:20:44,597 --> 00:20:48,143
with museum specimens
in natural history collections.

350
00:20:48,168 --> 00:20:52,813
But around two years before Hope
died, the trail runs cold.

351
00:20:56,486 --> 00:21:02,822
In the penultimate year of her life,
that's 1899 into 1890,

352
00:21:02,847 --> 00:21:06,132
the data becomes very, very unclear.

353
00:21:06,157 --> 00:21:10,612
She's still in these warmer waters
off the west coast of Africa...

354
00:21:12,597 --> 00:21:16,742
...and she stays there
and we don't really know why.

355
00:21:18,197 --> 00:21:21,211
This is where the real detective
work comes in.

356
00:21:21,236 --> 00:21:26,612
Richard needs more tests to find out
why Hope suddenly stopped migrating.

357
00:21:33,997 --> 00:21:37,022
The museum's biggest exhibits might
pull in the crowds,

358
00:21:37,047 --> 00:21:41,022
but less than 1% of its collection
is on display to the public.

359
00:21:42,847 --> 00:21:45,211
The rest is kept for research

360
00:21:45,236 --> 00:21:48,172
in special access areas
like The Cocoon,

361
00:21:48,197 --> 00:21:50,411
which is in the museum's west wing.

362
00:21:52,877 --> 00:21:57,411
The cocoon is crammed full
of over 20 million specimens,

363
00:21:57,436 --> 00:21:59,562
including two-and-a-half
million flies

364
00:21:59,587 --> 00:22:01,692
reserved for scientific research.

365
00:22:03,486 --> 00:22:06,132
Erica McAlister is one
of the experts in charge

366
00:22:06,157 --> 00:22:10,302
of this collection,
and flies are her life's obsession.

367
00:22:11,356 --> 00:22:13,252
Everyone who starts off
on flies is like,

368
00:22:13,277 --> 00:22:15,972
"l don't know how
to pronounce that."

369
00:22:15,997 --> 00:22:18,852
My advice with a lot of scientific
names is just go quickly.

370
00:22:23,277 --> 00:22:26,742
You can look at whales
and they're great and they're fun,

371
00:22:26,767 --> 00:22:28,531
but I can go into my garden

372
00:22:28,556 --> 00:22:31,302
and I can see more mayhem
and mischief there

373
00:22:31,327 --> 00:22:33,772
than I will by looking at a whale.

374
00:22:33,797 --> 00:22:36,742
Obviously, I have a bent
for slightly unusual

375
00:22:36,767 --> 00:22:38,972
and entertaining behaviours.

376
00:22:38,997 --> 00:22:41,172
Look, look here.

377
00:22:41,197 --> 00:22:44,172
See those little faces?
Aren't they cute?

378
00:22:44,197 --> 00:22:46,331
You see their little face?

379
00:22:46,356 --> 00:22:47,562
It's not their face.

380
00:22:47,587 --> 00:22:49,531
Obviously, that's their
anal spiracles,

381
00:22:49,556 --> 00:22:52,331
so you're looking at
the backside of a maggot,

382
00:22:52,356 --> 00:22:53,972
which always makes me giggle.

383
00:22:57,047 --> 00:23:00,892
Can you not see the little dot
on top of the end of the pin?

384
00:23:00,917 --> 00:23:03,772
That's obviously a fully-formed
adult fly.

385
00:23:03,797 --> 00:23:07,132
These are commonly called
the no-see-ums,

386
00:23:07,157 --> 00:23:10,692
and there's a specific reason for
that, because they are quite small.

387
00:23:10,717 --> 00:23:14,562
So that obviously is a pig's foot.

388
00:23:14,587 --> 00:23:18,022
In it it's got loads of little
holes where the fleas live.

389
00:23:19,077 --> 00:23:21,022
We get these in humans.

390
00:23:21,047 --> 00:23:24,252
So those romantic walks
on the beach,

391
00:23:24,277 --> 00:23:27,661
not so romantic when you've got
a flea burrowing through your foot.

392
00:23:27,686 --> 00:23:32,102
And then this is a lovely example
of the chicken flea

393
00:23:32,127 --> 00:23:34,692
and they live
in the lids of chickens.

394
00:23:34,717 --> 00:23:36,382
If you look on their eyelid,

395
00:23:36,407 --> 00:23:39,132
you can see little rows
of tiny little fleas.

396
00:23:39,157 --> 00:23:42,612
This is quite amazing. It's got to
be slightly itchy, I guess.

397
00:23:42,637 --> 00:23:46,451
So now I can use these
to horrify you,

398
00:23:46,476 --> 00:23:49,022
which is great
for education reasons.

399
00:23:49,047 --> 00:23:52,661
So we have all
these beautiful models.

400
00:23:52,686 --> 00:23:57,132
Erica's collection also includes
some 90-year-old wax models

401
00:23:57,157 --> 00:24:00,852
that are supersized versions
of the real specimens.

402
00:24:00,877 --> 00:24:03,852
I could show you
my pubic lice in a minute.

403
00:24:03,877 --> 00:24:05,892
That is always a winner.

404
00:24:05,917 --> 00:24:08,122
Everyone has favourites

405
00:24:08,147 --> 00:24:11,612
and the pubic lice are mine
cos, you know, look at them.

406
00:24:13,127 --> 00:24:17,132
So here we have a head lice
and a pubic lice

407
00:24:17,157 --> 00:24:20,052
and I think it's pretty obvious
which one is which.

408
00:24:20,077 --> 00:24:24,382
One lives on your head
and your thorax.

409
00:24:24,407 --> 00:24:28,331
Your hair is slightly different
there to your hair

410
00:24:28,356 --> 00:24:30,411
in your nether region.

411
00:24:30,436 --> 00:24:33,772
Therefore, their claws are shaped
differently to hold on to

412
00:24:33,797 --> 00:24:35,972
different types of hair.

413
00:24:35,997 --> 00:24:38,252
And you can see why they call
it crabs, as well,

414
00:24:38,277 --> 00:24:40,692
because it's definitely got
a crab-like structure to it.

415
00:24:40,717 --> 00:24:42,132
It's brilliant.

416
00:24:42,157 --> 00:24:43,612
They're dying out.

417
00:24:43,637 --> 00:24:45,022
We don't really know why.

418
00:24:45,047 --> 00:24:47,692
It could be deforestation,
but we don't know.

419
00:24:52,277 --> 00:24:57,451
Coming up, the museum welcomes
a new dinosaur to its collection.

420
00:24:57,476 --> 00:25:00,661
I'm super excited to get
this beautiful dinosaur.

421
00:25:00,686 --> 00:25:02,832
It's just going to be spectacular.

422
00:25:02,857 --> 00:25:05,042
And a new discovery about Hope.

423
00:25:05,067 --> 00:25:07,562
I've taken a look at the results
and processed what's come back.

424
00:25:07,587 --> 00:25:10,302
I'm incredibly excited by this.

425
00:25:17,146 --> 00:25:19,402
The Natural History Museum
covers an area

426
00:25:19,427 --> 00:25:21,832
the size of 200 tennis courts

427
00:25:21,857 --> 00:25:26,152
and has five cafes, three shops
and 28 different galleries.

428
00:25:28,097 --> 00:25:31,402
Making sure this huge museum
is ready for the public

429
00:25:31,427 --> 00:25:36,152
is a mammoth task, and it's all down
to duty manager jack Evans.

430
00:25:36,177 --> 00:25:39,432
Eva, can I grab the sales radios?

431
00:25:39,457 --> 00:25:41,322
Have a good day. See you in a bit.

432
00:25:41,347 --> 00:25:44,352
He has just 45 minutes
to get everything ready

433
00:25:44,377 --> 00:25:46,791
before the museum opens for the day.

434
00:25:48,377 --> 00:25:50,272
The museum's a very
glamorous building

435
00:25:50,297 --> 00:25:54,152
but I reassure you that there's not
always glamorous sides to the job.

436
00:25:57,297 --> 00:26:01,472
Jack manages a team of 65
front-of-house staff

437
00:26:01,497 --> 00:26:03,272
who run the 14-acre site.

438
00:26:04,377 --> 00:26:06,512
It always gets to this time,

439
00:26:06,537 --> 00:26:08,871
and it gets a bit more exciting

440
00:26:08,896 --> 00:26:11,911
cos the visitors are on their way.

441
00:26:11,936 --> 00:26:14,352
The top of the stairs,
always knackered.

442
00:26:14,377 --> 00:26:16,991
I think by the end of the day,
we're all kind of like this,

443
00:26:17,016 --> 00:26:18,512
like keeled over.

444
00:26:18,537 --> 00:26:20,791
It's such a physicaljob.

445
00:26:20,816 --> 00:26:25,791
My step count will probably be about
23 to 25,000 steps a day...

446
00:26:27,066 --> 00:26:28,791
...like 12 flights of stairs,

447
00:26:28,816 --> 00:26:31,402
so you've got to be quite athletic,
which I'm not.

448
00:26:31,427 --> 00:26:33,512
Hello, Control. Duty Manager, over.

449
00:26:34,657 --> 00:26:36,682
Just checking in with housekeeping

450
00:26:36,707 --> 00:26:40,152
to see if the building is clean
enough for us to open

451
00:26:40,177 --> 00:26:41,762
and I'm not getting a response.

452
00:26:41,787 --> 00:26:43,791
This is the Duty Manager calling.

453
00:26:43,816 --> 00:26:47,322
Any available housekeeping
supervisor or manager? Over.

454
00:26:51,066 --> 00:26:52,832
It's kind of a bit rude
if they don't answer.

455
00:26:52,857 --> 00:26:56,552
Hi, there. just to double check
that the museum is squeaky clean

456
00:26:56,577 --> 00:26:59,682
and ready for our visitors? Over.

457
00:26:59,707 --> 00:27:03,041
Hello, Control. Are we ready
to open the museum on time?

458
00:27:06,707 --> 00:27:08,152
Thank you. Out.

459
00:27:09,347 --> 00:27:11,272
We are indeed.

460
00:27:14,967 --> 00:27:18,861
Time is ticking for the museum's
major upcoming exhibition,

461
00:27:18,886 --> 00:27:22,352
Fantastic Beasts:
The Wonder of Nature.

462
00:27:23,457 --> 00:27:26,632
Head of Conservation Lorraine
Cornish and her team have to prepare

463
00:27:26,657 --> 00:27:29,072
over 100 items,

464
00:27:29,097 --> 00:27:33,272
including the replica skeleton of
a recently-discovered dinosaur -

465
00:27:33,297 --> 00:27:35,762
Dracorex Hogwartsia.

466
00:27:38,457 --> 00:27:42,911
The original is in America,
where it was discovered in 2004

467
00:27:42,936 --> 00:27:46,402
and is named after
Harry Potter's school.

468
00:27:46,427 --> 00:27:49,712
I'm super excited to get
this beautiful dinosaur.

469
00:27:49,737 --> 00:27:52,832
It's going to be the centrepiece
of our exhibition with the most

470
00:27:52,857 --> 00:27:55,402
amazing name, Dracorex Hogwartsia,

471
00:27:55,427 --> 00:27:57,832
dragon king of the Hogwarts.

472
00:27:57,857 --> 00:27:59,552
It's just going to be spectacular.

473
00:27:59,577 --> 00:28:03,552
You've got wizarding world
and magic and you've got a dinosaur.

474
00:28:03,577 --> 00:28:06,222
What else do you need to start
your exhibition?

475
00:28:09,936 --> 00:28:13,911
The complex skeleton has arrived
in pieces without a manual

476
00:28:13,936 --> 00:28:16,682
and needs assembling.

477
00:28:16,707 --> 00:28:21,552
So Lorraine has called in
dinosaur expert Susie Maidment.

478
00:28:21,577 --> 00:28:24,432
As a dinosaur researcher,
what part are you interested in?

479
00:28:24,457 --> 00:28:27,072
Most dinosaur experts like skulls,
to be honest with you,

480
00:28:27,097 --> 00:28:29,861
because skulls can tell us a lot
about feeding and things like that,

481
00:28:29,886 --> 00:28:32,582
and they're a bit more personal.
They are a bit more personal.

482
00:28:32,607 --> 00:28:34,791
Well, you know, we do have...
Have we got the skull?

483
00:28:34,816 --> 00:28:36,552
...the replica skull here.
Can I have a look?

484
00:28:36,577 --> 00:28:39,791
Yeah, I've got it on here
with all the other bits here. OK.

485
00:28:39,816 --> 00:28:41,352
Can I pick it up? Yeah, yeah.

486
00:28:41,377 --> 00:28:43,582
It's in really good condition,
and it's really robust.

487
00:28:43,607 --> 00:28:46,152
Oh, it's light, OK.
Yeah, and it's really light.

488
00:28:46,177 --> 00:28:48,582
Don't you think
that looks just like a dragon?

489
00:28:48,607 --> 00:28:51,582
It just looks exactly like what you
imagine a dragon looks like.

490
00:28:51,607 --> 00:28:54,222
I know, I know, I know.
It's so cool!

491
00:28:54,247 --> 00:28:58,861
But Lorraine has discovered
a problem with the replica skeleton.

492
00:28:58,886 --> 00:29:01,192
What's happened here, though?
Well, I was hoping

493
00:29:01,217 --> 00:29:03,911
we could put it together today,
so that we could show you.

494
00:29:03,936 --> 00:29:07,041
But unfortunately,
it's travelled across from the US,

495
00:29:07,066 --> 00:29:10,072
and so some of the pieces
were damaged.

496
00:29:10,097 --> 00:29:12,962
The one thing a conservator fears

497
00:29:12,987 --> 00:29:16,041
is undoing that crate
and something is broken.

498
00:29:16,066 --> 00:29:19,472
And in this case, we found pieces
of the dinosaur lying at the bottom.

499
00:29:19,497 --> 00:29:22,432
And so there's a sort of
intake of breath and like,

500
00:29:22,457 --> 00:29:25,962
"OK, let's have a look
and see how much damage we've got."

501
00:29:25,987 --> 00:29:29,192
And so we've got ribs completely
broken off,

502
00:29:29,217 --> 00:29:31,791
whole pieces broken off entirely.

503
00:29:31,816 --> 00:29:34,192
I've got some more pieces
over on the table.

504
00:29:34,217 --> 00:29:35,861
So we will be able to repair it,

505
00:29:35,886 --> 00:29:39,111
but it will take four or five days,
which we hadn't planned for.

506
00:29:39,136 --> 00:29:40,752
We've got to somehow find the time

507
00:29:40,777 --> 00:29:42,911
to now repair
this beautiful dinosaur

508
00:29:42,936 --> 00:29:44,322
so that we can install it.

509
00:29:48,777 --> 00:29:50,962
Richard Sabin has been

510
00:29:50,987 --> 00:29:54,111
looking after the museum's whales
for three decades,

511
00:29:54,136 --> 00:29:56,712
But his love
of the Natural History Museum

512
00:29:56,737 --> 00:29:58,322
stretches back to childhood.

513
00:29:59,987 --> 00:30:02,632
I first remember
walking into this hall

514
00:30:02,657 --> 00:30:06,502
and seeing this blue whale model
as a ten-year-old.

515
00:30:06,527 --> 00:30:09,272
It was the first time
I'd ever been to London,

516
00:30:09,297 --> 00:30:12,072
the first time I'd been
to the Natural History Museum,

517
00:30:12,097 --> 00:30:16,041
and this was the thing
that really blew me away.

518
00:30:16,066 --> 00:30:17,552
Standing in front of this model

519
00:30:17,577 --> 00:30:21,222
makes me remember how excited I was
when I first saw this.

520
00:30:21,247 --> 00:30:23,962
One of the things
that I really wanted to do

521
00:30:23,987 --> 00:30:26,832
when I was ten years old
on that first visit

522
00:30:26,857 --> 00:30:29,352
was take a look at the model
close up.

523
00:30:29,377 --> 00:30:31,352
And of course,
now that I work for the museum,

524
00:30:31,377 --> 00:30:32,861
that's exactly what I can do.

525
00:30:32,886 --> 00:30:34,811
Nobody else - just me.

526
00:30:36,517 --> 00:30:38,342
Richard's childhood visits

527
00:30:38,367 --> 00:30:41,572
would spark his lifelong love
of whales.

528
00:30:41,597 --> 00:30:44,372
As a ten-year-old,
I was all about bones,

529
00:30:44,397 --> 00:30:47,811
I wanted to know about skeletons,
and seeing the skeleton

530
00:30:47,836 --> 00:30:50,342
of the largest animal
that's ever lived on the planet

531
00:30:50,367 --> 00:30:52,852
was just the most...
the most incredible thing,

532
00:30:52,877 --> 00:30:54,372
I had to know more.

533
00:30:54,397 --> 00:30:55,931
I had no idea

534
00:30:55,956 --> 00:30:59,131
that I'd end up working with Hope
so closely

535
00:30:59,156 --> 00:31:00,982
and in so much detail.

536
00:31:01,007 --> 00:31:04,292
And she's really become
the pinnacle of my career so far.

537
00:31:04,317 --> 00:31:06,162
Who knew?
Who knew that was going to happen?

538
00:31:06,187 --> 00:31:07,852
That could never be predicted.

539
00:31:11,797 --> 00:31:15,162
After months of research,
Richard has made a breakthrough

540
00:31:15,187 --> 00:31:17,452
in his investigation into Hope.

541
00:31:19,237 --> 00:31:22,991
He's been able to trace where
Hope travelled during her life,

542
00:31:23,016 --> 00:31:25,111
but then the trail goes cold.

543
00:31:26,906 --> 00:31:29,622
It appears that,
in the last years of her life,

544
00:31:29,647 --> 00:31:32,852
she suddenly stopped migrating.

545
00:31:32,877 --> 00:31:35,622
Richard has an idea of why this was,

546
00:31:35,647 --> 00:31:39,352
and he's just received
an extraordinary set of results

547
00:31:39,377 --> 00:31:41,712
that confirm his suspicions.

548
00:31:41,737 --> 00:31:44,342
I've taken a look at the results
and processed what's come back,

549
00:31:44,367 --> 00:31:47,342
and what we can see very clearly -

550
00:31:47,367 --> 00:31:50,572
very, very clearly,
and I'm incredibly excited by this -

551
00:31:50,597 --> 00:31:53,712
is that we have evidence

552
00:31:53,737 --> 00:31:57,352
that Hope had been pregnant,
full term.

553
00:31:58,457 --> 00:32:00,852
These results show
that Hope was pregnant

554
00:32:00,877 --> 00:32:03,911
during the last years of her life.

555
00:32:03,936 --> 00:32:05,712
With this new information,

556
00:32:05,737 --> 00:32:09,552
Richard can now pinpoint
exactly when she gave birth.

557
00:32:11,737 --> 00:32:13,632
The graph that I've got here

558
00:32:13,657 --> 00:32:15,502
is the data that's come back
from the analysis.

559
00:32:15,527 --> 00:32:18,072
And smack in the middle of the graph

560
00:32:18,097 --> 00:32:21,502
is this huge spike in progesterone,
the pregnancy hormone.

561
00:32:21,527 --> 00:32:25,322
So we have a birth date
for Hope's calf

562
00:32:25,347 --> 00:32:28,712
of February 1890
based on these data.

563
00:32:28,737 --> 00:32:30,632
This is really quite remarkable.

564
00:32:30,657 --> 00:32:33,861
And the really wonderful thing
for me is that...

565
00:32:33,886 --> 00:32:36,472
...if her calf
lived its full lifespan,

566
00:32:36,497 --> 00:32:39,031
that means it would have been
swimming around in our waters

567
00:32:39,056 --> 00:32:41,241
around about 1970 or so.

568
00:32:41,266 --> 00:32:44,502
If that calf in turn
had had offspring,

569
00:32:44,527 --> 00:32:46,861
maybe, maybe, just maybe,

570
00:32:46,886 --> 00:32:51,911
Hope's grandchildren are swimming
around still in the oceans today,

571
00:32:51,936 --> 00:32:54,772
following
that same migration route.

572
00:32:54,797 --> 00:32:59,472
But the research has also revealed
a darker side of Hope's story.

573
00:33:00,777 --> 00:33:05,392
Alongside the pregnancy hormone, the
progesterone,

574
00:33:05,417 --> 00:33:06,832
we've also analysed the levels

575
00:33:06,857 --> 00:33:09,911
of a stress hormone
called corticosterone.

576
00:33:09,936 --> 00:33:13,712
Now, this stress hormone
is actually elevated

577
00:33:13,737 --> 00:33:15,552
in the period leading up to

578
00:33:15,577 --> 00:33:18,142
and the period including
Hope's pregnancy.

579
00:33:22,136 --> 00:33:23,781
What we have to remember

580
00:33:23,806 --> 00:33:27,712
is that Hope was living at a time of
increased commercial whaling,

581
00:33:27,737 --> 00:33:29,392
a time when blue whales

582
00:33:29,417 --> 00:33:32,552
were taken right to the very edge
of extinction.

583
00:33:32,577 --> 00:33:35,241
There was a massive intensification
in hunting of blue whales,

584
00:33:35,266 --> 00:33:38,502
because they were
so commercially desirable.

585
00:33:38,527 --> 00:33:43,031
And Hope was living through
the peak of whaling.

586
00:33:44,657 --> 00:33:47,322
She probably would have been
much more vulnerable

587
00:33:47,347 --> 00:33:49,072
as a pregnant female,

588
00:33:49,097 --> 00:33:51,352
and it's a terrible thing to think

589
00:33:51,377 --> 00:33:54,712
that she was about to give birth

590
00:33:54,737 --> 00:33:58,352
at a time when things were looking
so bleak for her species.

591
00:34:00,447 --> 00:34:02,911
Even though whaling was
approaching its height,

592
00:34:02,936 --> 00:34:06,111
Hope escaped being slaughtered
and gave birth.

593
00:34:09,266 --> 00:34:12,241
But records show that, a year later,
she became stranded

594
00:34:12,266 --> 00:34:14,142
and died on a sandbank

595
00:34:14,167 --> 00:34:17,911
as she journeyed past
Wexford Harbour on the Irish coast.

596
00:34:22,677 --> 00:34:27,072
Richard still has an important
question that needs answering.

597
00:34:27,097 --> 00:34:31,672
It's one of the mysteries which is
still pretty much an open question,

598
00:34:31,697 --> 00:34:37,712
is why Hope died, why she...beached
in Wexford Harbour.

599
00:34:37,737 --> 00:34:40,352
I really need to do
a bit more thinking

600
00:34:40,377 --> 00:34:43,911
about what I still believe to be
the last open question,

601
00:34:43,936 --> 00:34:47,302
which is...why did she beach?

602
00:34:47,327 --> 00:34:51,162
How did she manage to strand,
such a powerful animal?

603
00:34:51,187 --> 00:34:54,292
Maybe these data can give me
a little bit of insight.

604
00:34:56,387 --> 00:35:00,932
Coming up - the museum's new
dinosaur refuses to take shape.

605
00:35:00,957 --> 00:35:03,162
This is like a giant Meccano set

606
00:35:03,187 --> 00:35:06,642
that's full of very fragile pieces
that you're trying to put together.

607
00:35:06,667 --> 00:35:08,522
And Hope's last secret.

608
00:35:08,547 --> 00:35:11,472
There's a mystery still to be
addressed, the final mystery.

609
00:35:18,877 --> 00:35:20,492
The deadline is looming

610
00:35:20,517 --> 00:35:23,312
for the Natural History Museum's
upcoming exhibition.

611
00:35:26,127 --> 00:35:28,982
With a broken replica dinosaur
on her hands,

612
00:35:29,007 --> 00:35:31,182
head of conservation
Lorraine Cornish

613
00:35:31,207 --> 00:35:34,671
is having to work round the clock
to assemble its complex skeleton.

614
00:35:37,767 --> 00:35:40,211
The clock is ticking,
we have a schedule planned,

615
00:35:40,236 --> 00:35:43,461
and now this is an additional piece
of work that we've got to do.

616
00:35:43,486 --> 00:35:47,132
So any bits of spare time
that we thought we had

617
00:35:47,157 --> 00:35:50,661
we don't have any more,
and we're doing this.

618
00:35:50,686 --> 00:35:53,102
This whole ribcage section here

619
00:35:53,127 --> 00:35:56,341
had actually broken
along quite a few of those lines.

620
00:35:56,366 --> 00:35:58,541
So what I'm doing is
just that bit of in-painting

621
00:35:58,566 --> 00:36:02,382
so you cannot see
where that break happened.

622
00:36:02,407 --> 00:36:04,312
This has taken up
quite a lot of time,

623
00:36:04,337 --> 00:36:05,541
and I'm going to nickname it

624
00:36:05,566 --> 00:36:08,182
a little bit of a diva dinosaur,
to be honest,

625
00:36:08,207 --> 00:36:11,622
in terms of the attention
it's demanding from us.

626
00:36:11,647 --> 00:36:14,822
But, you know, it's worth it,
absolutely worth it.

627
00:36:16,157 --> 00:36:17,492
With the repairs complete,

628
00:36:17,517 --> 00:36:21,341
Lorraine can finally try to assemble
the dracorex skeleton.

629
00:36:22,847 --> 00:36:25,062
This is like a giant Meccano set

630
00:36:25,087 --> 00:36:28,182
that's full of very fragile pieces
that you're trying to put together.

631
00:36:28,207 --> 00:36:31,062
So you're literally building
a dinosaur.

632
00:36:32,257 --> 00:36:33,852
It's getting longer.

633
00:36:33,877 --> 00:36:36,772
Yeah, it's nice and long now,
isn't it?

634
00:36:36,797 --> 00:36:39,341
You feel like you're gradually
bringing it to life

635
00:36:39,366 --> 00:36:42,182
as you put each piece on.

636
00:36:42,207 --> 00:36:45,952
It's just like an enormous jigsaw
puzzle but quite a challenging one.

637
00:36:45,977 --> 00:36:48,702
Jigsaw puzzles usually
behave a little bit better

638
00:36:48,727 --> 00:36:51,492
than this dinosaur is.

639
00:36:51,517 --> 00:36:54,022
Dino expert Susie Maidment

640
00:36:54,047 --> 00:36:57,952
is joining Lorraine
for its crowning moment.

641
00:36:57,977 --> 00:37:00,132
Hi, Lorraine!
Hi, Susie, how are you?

642
00:37:00,157 --> 00:37:02,312
This looks good, much better
than last time I saw it!

643
00:37:02,337 --> 00:37:04,062
So much better, isn't it?

644
00:37:04,087 --> 00:37:07,772
You've just caught me pinning
the tail on the dinosaur, literally!

645
00:37:07,797 --> 00:37:10,702
This is the last bit of tail,
so I've got you down here

646
00:37:10,727 --> 00:37:14,262
because there's one more piece
to put on, Susie.

647
00:37:14,287 --> 00:37:15,411
The skull!

648
00:37:15,436 --> 00:37:17,622
So can I do the honours, Lorraine?
You can, Susie.

649
00:37:17,647 --> 00:37:19,661
I've saved the best till last
for you. How exciting.

650
00:37:19,686 --> 00:37:21,341
It's all quite simple.
Yeah? That's it.

651
00:37:21,366 --> 00:37:24,902
Then put him up a little bit more...
Like that? Yes, exactly.

652
00:37:24,927 --> 00:37:26,461
There we go. Yeah.

653
00:37:26,486 --> 00:37:28,622
There he goes. Right.
Are we letting go? Yeah.

654
00:37:28,647 --> 00:37:31,182
Hey... There he is.

655
00:37:31,207 --> 00:37:32,461
There he is!

656
00:37:32,486 --> 00:37:35,492
Look at that! Oh, handsome!

657
00:37:35,517 --> 00:37:37,232
This specimen looks fantastic.

658
00:37:37,257 --> 00:37:39,822
I can't believe how different
it looks from when I saw it.

659
00:37:39,847 --> 00:37:41,742
I think it's going to be
the star of the show,

660
00:37:41,767 --> 00:37:43,302
as it should be as a dinosaur.

661
00:37:43,327 --> 00:37:47,232
So you've got Harry Potter,
Wizarding World, dinosaurs, dragons.

662
00:37:47,257 --> 00:37:49,182
The whole mix is there, isn't it?

663
00:37:49,207 --> 00:37:51,411
The public are going to
absolutely love this specimen.

664
00:37:56,616 --> 00:38:01,132
It's been a busy day for duty
manager jack Evans and his team,

665
00:38:01,157 --> 00:38:04,591
who are just getting ready
to close up.

666
00:38:04,616 --> 00:38:06,591
Attention, all front-of-house
radio holders.

667
00:38:06,616 --> 00:38:08,132
This is the duty manager.

668
00:38:08,157 --> 00:38:10,382
The museum is now
closed to the public.

669
00:38:10,407 --> 00:38:13,262
Please can you start clearing
the galleries wherever you are?

670
00:38:13,287 --> 00:38:14,772
Thank you. Out.

671
00:38:14,797 --> 00:38:16,661
Gearing up now for closing.

672
00:38:17,767 --> 00:38:20,661
I'm just going to
sweep the galleries

673
00:38:20,686 --> 00:38:24,302
to make sure that
there's no-one hiding

674
00:38:24,327 --> 00:38:28,302
in the kind of strange
hiding places in here.

675
00:38:28,327 --> 00:38:31,622
You never know...
what you might find.

676
00:38:32,797 --> 00:38:34,822
It's kind of nice, actually,

677
00:38:34,847 --> 00:38:38,591
to walk through
when there's no-one here,

678
00:38:38,616 --> 00:38:41,591
even though it's a bit creepy
in some areas.

679
00:38:41,616 --> 00:38:45,461
It's nice, you can kind of have some
one-to-one time with a donkey.

680
00:38:48,127 --> 00:38:52,461
This is probably a good spot
to edge people on to the doors.

681
00:38:53,767 --> 00:38:56,461
We obviously don't want to
force people out the doors,

682
00:38:56,486 --> 00:39:00,022
but we've kind of got this
gentle lean-in

683
00:39:00,047 --> 00:39:02,661
and kind of graciously nudge.

684
00:39:07,436 --> 00:39:10,302
Richard Sabin's
18-month investigation

685
00:39:10,327 --> 00:39:13,942
into Hope the whale's life story
is coming to an end.

686
00:39:15,767 --> 00:39:18,022
He's plotted her route
across the globe

687
00:39:18,047 --> 00:39:20,772
and discovered that,
in the last years of her life,

688
00:39:20,797 --> 00:39:23,742
she gave birth to a calf.

689
00:39:23,767 --> 00:39:27,102
But there's one question
that still needs answering.

690
00:39:29,077 --> 00:39:31,822
What caused this giant blue whale
to beach

691
00:39:31,847 --> 00:39:35,262
on a sandbank in Wexford Harbour
on the Irish coast?

692
00:39:37,077 --> 00:39:39,461
There's a mystery
still to be addressed,

693
00:39:39,486 --> 00:39:40,902
and it's the final mystery.

694
00:39:40,927 --> 00:39:43,232
It's the mystery of why she died,
how she died.

695
00:39:43,257 --> 00:39:44,772
What were the circumstances?

696
00:39:44,797 --> 00:39:51,052
Richard has finally pieced together
the story of Hope's last hours.

697
00:39:51,077 --> 00:39:55,622
It's my feeling that it's probably
down to two main factors,

698
00:39:55,647 --> 00:39:59,132
the first one being she would have
been weakened by the pregnancy

699
00:39:59,157 --> 00:40:03,052
and by feeding that calf
for all those months,

700
00:40:03,077 --> 00:40:07,622
investing all her energy
in keeping her calf alive.

701
00:40:07,647 --> 00:40:09,411
There's another factor.

702
00:40:09,436 --> 00:40:12,902
We know from records that,
in the days before she appeared,

703
00:40:12,927 --> 00:40:14,541
on the south-east coast of Ireland,

704
00:40:14,566 --> 00:40:16,742
there were terrible storms
in the area.

705
00:40:16,767 --> 00:40:19,102
And I have a dreadful feeling

706
00:40:19,127 --> 00:40:21,942
that Hope may have been
caught by those storms,

707
00:40:21,967 --> 00:40:23,541
that she may have been pulled into

708
00:40:23,566 --> 00:40:26,872
the incredibly tidal waters
of Wexford Harbour,

709
00:40:26,897 --> 00:40:28,232
into the shallows,

710
00:40:28,257 --> 00:40:30,661
and didn't have the strength
to break free,

711
00:40:30,686 --> 00:40:33,661
had no way to get herself
out of that predicament.

712
00:40:35,897 --> 00:40:41,772
Hope died on the morning
of 25th March 1891.

713
00:40:41,797 --> 00:40:46,692
And remarkably Richard has uncovered
a photograph in an Irish museum

714
00:40:46,717 --> 00:40:52,052
that matches the exact date and
location of where Hope was found.

715
00:40:52,077 --> 00:40:56,331
It shows the blue whale
in her final moments.

716
00:40:56,356 --> 00:40:59,622
I've got a photograph here
that shows Hope

717
00:40:59,647 --> 00:41:02,692
lying on a sandbank
in shallow water

718
00:41:02,717 --> 00:41:05,022
on her right-hand side,

719
00:41:05,047 --> 00:41:07,461
with four men
standing on top of her body,

720
00:41:07,486 --> 00:41:12,461
and she's being released,
we believe, from her misery

721
00:41:12,486 --> 00:41:16,132
by one of the men
who made a harpoon,

722
00:41:16,157 --> 00:41:18,302
a home-made harpoon, and...

723
00:41:18,327 --> 00:41:21,022
...and plunged into her body to...

724
00:41:21,047 --> 00:41:23,232
...to, um...release her.

725
00:41:26,767 --> 00:41:32,411
It really does have quite an impact
and, you know, just...

726
00:41:32,436 --> 00:41:36,182
It does bring her to life, really,
to have this information.

727
00:41:38,157 --> 00:41:41,182
Ultimately, when I stop
and think about it,

728
00:41:41,207 --> 00:41:44,512
it's...it's quite overpowering,
it's quite overwhelming.

729
00:41:47,356 --> 00:41:51,622
Richard has solved
the 50-year-old mystery about Hope.

730
00:41:53,327 --> 00:41:56,022
And soon,
everyone who comes to the museum

731
00:41:56,047 --> 00:41:59,182
can discover more about her story.

732
00:41:59,207 --> 00:42:02,132
Even though this is
an incredibly sad story,

733
00:42:02,157 --> 00:42:05,302
there is a...
a silver lining to all this.

734
00:42:06,717 --> 00:42:08,622
People will get to know this story,

735
00:42:08,647 --> 00:42:12,232
and I really think
it will surprise and inspire them.

736
00:42:12,257 --> 00:42:16,102
We've created an incredibly
powerful message of hope,

737
00:42:16,127 --> 00:42:18,822
and Hope's story is an example

738
00:42:18,847 --> 00:42:21,262
of what the Natural History Museum
is all about -

739
00:42:21,287 --> 00:42:25,512
using our collections to
inspire people, through science,

740
00:42:25,537 --> 00:42:29,872
to look after, protect
and conserve the natural world.

741
00:42:32,537 --> 00:42:34,222
Next time...

742
00:42:35,767 --> 00:42:37,942
...a new dinosaur discovery...

743
00:42:37,967 --> 00:42:40,822
It slightly blows your mind,
doesn't it?

744
00:42:40,847 --> 00:42:44,331
...gruesome secrets
from our prehistoric ancestors...

745
00:42:44,356 --> 00:42:48,022
So these teeth marks must be
from a human.

746
00:42:48,047 --> 00:42:50,872
This is definitely
cannibalistic behaviour.

747
00:42:50,897 --> 00:42:53,972
...and the most famous dinosaur
of all time.

748
00:42:53,997 --> 00:42:56,382
Dippymania has taken over.

749
00:43:20,407 --> 00:43:23,382
Subtitles by Red Bee Media