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At the end of intensive restoration, reconstruction and planning work that lasted for about a year and a half, the Israel Aquarium has opened its new whale skeleton exhibit.

For the first time in Israel, a reconstruction of a huge whale skeleton 17.5 meters long, can be viewed by the general public in an impressive and educational exhibit.

In February 2021, a dead fin whale washed ashore at the Nitzanim beach in southern Israel (between Ashkelon and Ashdod) and was buried in the dunes of the nature reserve by volunteers from the Israel Marine Mammal Research Assistance Center (IMMRAC) in cooperation with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA).

In May 2023, a joint team of the Tisch Family Biblical Zoo, the Gottesman Family Israel Aquarium and IMMRAC set out to uncover the bones with the aim of presenting them to the public at the Israel Aquarium.

A professional team worked for a year and a half on reconstructing and reassembling the skeleton, a long process that included cleaning the bones, locating broken bones and connecting them back together. In the restoration process, special adhesives were used to preserve the organic materials.

At the end of the assembly process, it was decided to hang the skeleton in the air, on steel cables, in a huge exhibition hall with an observation deck, especially designated for the exhibit. The complex hanging design included consultations with experts in Israel and around the world and as part of the process of designing the hanging device, every bone in the skeleton was scanned, using 3D technology, in order to fit every part of the hanging device to the skeleton itself.

The skeleton is anchored to the ceiling using thin stainless steel cables capable of holding extremely heavy weights.

The whale skeleton exhibit is open to the general public, as part of the admission ticket to the Israel Aquarium, with explanations and tutorials as well as interactive educational displays.