Sea Monster Exhibition Opens at the Bournemouth International Centre

The Purbeck Hall at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) is playing host to a whole new cast of prehistoric characters as the countdown to the opening of the BBC Sea Monsters Exhibition continues.  With just under a week to go; the enthusiastic staff are busy settling in their new charges – amazing creatures such as Anomalocaris the world’s first super-predator, giant sharks and fearsome marine reptiles, one time residents of Dorset.

An Illustration of Anomalocaris

Anomalocaris

Anomalocaris drawing. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Sea Monster Exhibition

The Sea Monsters Exhibition gives visitors the chance to come face to face with some of the largest predators that hunt the sea today, including the iconic great white shark and giant squid, whilst witnessing some of the strangest creatures and latest scientific discoveries from our most recent explorations of the deep in the fantastic deep sea submarine simulator.

Take a trip through the history of the World’s oceans and learn more about these incredible sea monsters, from the ancestors of all back-boned animals to the one of the largest known pliosaurs – Liopleurodon; who was named and described from just a single, huge tooth found across the channel.  Learn all about what is most likely the biggest fish to have ever lived – Leedsichthys, a fish with a mouth so big it could have served as a car park.  Explore the technology used to make these amazing creatures ‘swim again’ – bringing back leviathans from the deep.

Arthropods of the Palaeozoic

Scientists used to think that creatures like Anomalocaris lived during the Cambrian Period, but a recent discovery of giant fossils in Morocco suggest that this fearsome, distant relative of spiders survived well into the Ordovician Period.

To read more about this discovery: Anomalocaris Discovery.

 In “Sea Monsters : A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy”, the BBC used the same production team and technologies behind the highly acclaimed “Walking with Dinosaurs” and “Walking with Beasts” series to bring a number of these marine creatures “back to life”.

A spokes person for Everything Dinosaur commented:

“As far as we know life began in the sea and with three-quarters of our planet covered in water, there is still a lot to learn and discover.  However, animals in a marine environment generally have a better chance of becoming fossils than creatures that live far away from water and the fossil record is full of incredible evidence providing scientists with an insight into some of the bizarre and amazing creatures that once lived in the sea.  The Sea Monsters exhibition at the BIC is a great place to get acquainted with some of them.”

The BBC Sea Monsters exhibition runs from July 23rd until September 11th at the BIC (Bournemouth), for ticket enquiries and other information regarding Sea Monsters check out the Everything Dinosaur blog.

For models of marine reptiles and other ancient sea creatures: CollectA Deluxe Sea Monsters and Marine Reptiles.