Exciting Exhibition News from Auckland Museum

22 FEBRUARY 2021

<h4>Season extended: Brickman Awesome: Epic LEGO® Creations extended</h4> Since opening on Thursday 3 December 2020 almost 100,000 people from Auckland, and the rest of the country, have visited the <a href="/visit/exhibitions/brickman-awesome">Brickman Awesome: Epic LEGO® Creations</a> exhibition on display exclusively at Auckland Museum. Today the Museum announces the Brickman Awesome: Epic LEGO® Creations exhibition will extend its season and continue through the next school holidays until Sunday 2 May 2021. “Visitors to Brickman Awesome: Epic LEGO® Creations exhibition enjoyed the scale and stature of the epic LEGO® creations,” says Dr David Gaimster, Chief Executive of Auckland War Memorial Museum. “We’re excited to be able to respond to our visitors and continue to offer this engaging exhibition to families during the April school holidays.” To celebrate the current America’s Cup, Brickman has built an all-new 1.8m long, 80cm wide and 2m high LEGO® brick replica of <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/glwrk9pi9gbencu/AADvKkjziXrhcuuXKR9jGDW2a?dl=0">Te Rehutai Emirates Team New Zealand AC75</a> yacht! Made from 23,647 LEGO® bricks and taking 210 hours to build, this highly topical model joins the giant NASA SLS rocket in Te Ao Mārama South Atrium. <h4>Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators Come to Life in June 2021</h4> Millions of years ago while dinosaurs ruled the land, giant reptiles over 20 metres long hunted the depths of the sea – and they’re coming back to life this June at Auckland Museum. Opening to the public on Friday 18 June <a href="/visit/exhibitions/sea-monsters">Sea Monsters</a> brings together never-before-seen fossils from millions of years ago, life-sized casts from gigantic specimens – including a 13-metre long Elasmosaurus and 9-metre Prognathodon. The record-breaking exhibition from the Australian National Maritime Museum boasts more than 70 displays featuring incredible specimens such as a huge 1.4-metre Kronosaurus jaw, an Ichthyosaur giving birth, and a 5-metre-long fish that died after swallowing another fish whole. Sea Monsters is an awe-inspiring exhibition with immersive multimedia and interactives to raise these ancient monsters of the deep from the dead. Specimens and models introduce how the three main types of ancient reptiles returned to the sea from the land and evolved into awesome marine predators, while interactives and multimedia explore how they adapted and lived in the prehistoric marine environment. Dr Gaimster says, “We are excited  to bring Sea Monsters to Aotearoa so more people can experience the wonders of prehistoric aquatic life. We’re committed to showcasing world-class touring exhibitions in our Special Exhibition suite in order to bring the world to Auckland. Sea Monsters has something for everyone, from young kids to expert scientists.” Creative Producer of interactive exhibitions for the Australian National Maritime Museum Em Blamey says, “Sea Monsters is a mix of real fossils, huge skeletons, hands-on interactives and AV experiences. I’m so glad it has travelled to New Zealand, as some awesome sea monsters lived there and some of them are in the exhibition!”   The exhibition was created alongside one of the world’s leading sea monster experts, palaeontologist Dr Espen Knutsen, and three Australian ‘kid curators’, and has resulted in a fascinating immersive exploration of the prehistoric seascape. Dr Knutsen has brought together the latest science on marine reptiles, saying, “This new exhibition tells the fascinating story of these long-gone sea creatures – which have no living relatives – through the latest science and amazing fossils from Australia, New Zealand and around the world. It has been an absolute privilege to be involved in making this part of Earth's prehistoric heritage available to the general public.” Following a chronological narrative from the earliest ichthyosaurs right through to today’s ocean predators, Sea Monsters features huge cast skeletons; real fossil specimens, which are millions of years old; an immersive video projection; 12+ interactives including “Design your own Sea Monster” and “Terrible Teeth” and the latest palaeontology research and techniques. Only slightly scary, it’s fun for the whole family – Sea Monsters comes exclusively to Auckland Museum and opens on Friday 18 June, tickets are on sale from May at <a href="/visit/exhibitions">Aucklandmuseum.com</a>   Seriously Scary Sea Monster Facts <ol> <li>Marine reptiles originally evolved on land and then went back to the sea</li> <li>The biggest marine reptile was the 24m Shonisaurus, a type of ichthyosaur</li> <li>Australia’s top plesiosaur predator, the Kronosaurus had a bite force of 3 tonnes – more than a saltwater crocodile.</li> <li>The mosasaur Prognathodon’s head was so heavy; if it had lived on land, it couldn’t have lifted it.</li> <li>We found the first sea monster fossils about 50 years before we found any dinosaurs - we’ve known about them for around 250 years.</li> <li>Sea monsters ruled the oceans for over 180 million years (modern humans have only been around for about 300,000 years).</li> <li>Some ichthyosaurs could swim at speeds of 40 kilometres per hour.</li> <li>We can learn about what sea monsters ate by looking at their fossilised poo, called coprolites.</li> <li>The plesiosaur Albertonectes had 72 neck bones – more than any other animal. We have only seven.</li> </ol> Auckland <a href="/your-museum/membership/membership-types">Museum Membership</a>, with three options to explore, provides unlimited free entry to all paid exhibitions, including Sea Monsters and Brickman Awesome: Epic LEGO® Creations, discounted event tickets and exclusive Member only events. Find out more at: <a href="/your-museum/membership">aucklandmuseum.com/membership</a> Media Contact: Bex Martelletti, Publicist Auckland War Memorial Museum Email: <a href="mailto:bmartelletti@aucklandmuseum.com">bmartelletti@aucklandmuseum.com</a> Phone:  021 955 362