1993: Habeas Porpoise?

July 18, 2025

By AHNZ

Generations of Cantabrians once proudly showed the world one of the masterpieces of the Canterbury Museum collection: A huge blue whale skeleton. Born some time in the 1810s, the great leviathan washed up in 1908 at Okarito and after much trial and expense was fixed for display at the museum from 23 March, 1909.

The great skeleton of our blue whale at Canterbury Museum was once an awe-inspiring feature. For 84 years generations of New Zealanders could see the whale hanging in the open air. In 1976 the bones were hung even higher in a Garden Court area that superseded this one (image, left.) But then, as of 1993, our whale submerged into the depths of the museum never to be seen again!

After 30+ years well might we ask when this whale will surface again? And, what do they think they’re playing at? If the government kidnaps a human being there’s still such a thing as the writ of habeas corpus. From the Latin,  “you shall have the body” within 3 working days. Big Blue has been in Museum Jail for 3 decades! Habeas Porpoise? Habeas Orcus? Habeas Baleanus! Give us back our whale!

“The whale display opened on 23 March 1909 and was an instant hit with the Canterbury public. It remained virtually unchanged until it was packed down in 1973 to make way for the construction of the Roger Duff Wing. It was covered in plastic and left to lie outside for 3 years before being rehung in the new Garden Court, under an overhang of the Antarctic Gallery.” – The Tale of Your Whale, Canterbury Museum (2022)

“Canterbury Museum’s blue whale skeleton dismantled and put into storage to make way for new building; it is New Zealand’s largest natural history exhibit” – 14 December, 1993 of Christchurch in the 1990s timeline, Geoffrey Rice (2002)

It took about 12 months for the whale to take its last swim, die, wash up, get clean, shipped by horse and cart, and secure full funding to be put on display in the Georgian Era. In our Millennial Era we can’t get half of that done but, at great ransom, we’re supposedly going to see Big Blue again in 2028. As it is the Museum saying this you can probably tag on an extra year or two and probably some more zeros to the bill.

We are not that technically incompetent. So, I have to fall back on saying that we are politically incompetent and that explanation is one we can readily assent to. I suspect the Museum is probably leveraging the habeas orcus moment for more money and Council consents to do what would otherwise not be forthcoming. By holding the whale ransom the public pressure mounts until politicians give in and sign over the Big Ask that the Museum has been trying to secure, so my hypothesis runs. How else to explain it? There has been a similar ransom for the Christchurch Cathedral in the Square. When politics and public money gets involved in anything we get more expense and big time lags. There is great indecisiveness and uncertainty about something being fixed or restored because the beloved thing is imbued with the properties of a political football.

“I still remember this being my favourite part of the museum as a kid.”
– Garth Haylock

“So what has happened to that area! It was lovely to sit in in the quiet.”
– Carol Cane Garlick

“I remember going there when we were kids and as soon as you saw it you stopped in your tracks and went ‘Jesus Christ!’ I think you would have been all of about five lol!”
– Donna Douglas (to Scott Douglas)

“I loved getting to the outdoor area and the huge whale skeleton… we would sit near it to eat our packed lunch before going back inside to explore some more.”
– Marieka Donk

“I never got sick of seeing that as a kid, absolutely astonishing!”
– Adrian Noordanus
– Ref. NZ History and Natural History, Facebook (2019)

“I remember seeing this growing up. It was amazing 🐋💙 I would sit in the courtyard with my sisters & Mum having lunch 🥪🥤😊”
– Melanie Whitworth

“The best café ever? Hope to see it again before too long?”
– Madeleine Hurricks

“Loved going to see that as a kid.”
– Meegan Brady

“I remember that courtyard used to get bloody hot in the summer.. 🔥🥵😄”
– Caleb Ward
– Remembering Christchurch, Facebook (2025)

The Okarito was a gift of our ancestors. Specifically, Museum Curator Edgar Waite and our Provincial Generation of New Zealanders.

The 1976-1993 fixture, the high point for the display, we owe to our Expeditionary Generation and  Silent Generation ancestors and that terrific burst of civic heritage energy from that time. Ref. Before the Boomers: High National Self-Esteem, AHNZ

It has been under the watch of the Boomers, as adults and mid-lifers, that Big Blue has been sentenced to 30 years whale jail. As such, Millennials and Gen Z Kiwi kids have been starved of their inheritance in yet another way. It will take Generation X in their elder years to finally put back what was stolen.

—
Image ref. Norman Wills, 1960s to 1970s. Christchurch City Libraries

Image ref. Canterbury Museum

Note: Big Blue is not in fact a porpoise by current taxonomic convention

Like    Comment     Share