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Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
2212 Main MallVancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Neighbourhood: UBC
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
11 reviews for Beaty Biodiversity Museum
11 reviews in English
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Review from Alison S.
5/28/2011
Five stars for the blue whale skeleton! I love museums and this one did not disappoint me. Perhaps my only disappointment was that alumni cannot get in for free. Come on UBC, cut me a deal!
That aside, I actually kind of liked the zigzagging through the aisles and rows of jars and bones and taxidermy. My boyfriend and I stopped at a trivia game. Other guests left but we stuck it through to the end and answered all the questions because we are dorks like that :) Just shows that 3rd year Plant Taxonomy really does sometimes have applications in real life :)
After you finish looking through all the rows there is a children's play area in the back, where I made a reindeer puppet (we will name her Rosa the Reindeer) and took pictures with giant ladybug stuffies.
We spent about an hour and a half here, but didn't really go through things in detail (despite the trivia game).
The museum is a little dark inside though, so some children may not enjoy looking through all the rows. They may also not have the patience to look at everything before getting to the play area, so maybe try going there first after looking at the outer exhibits.
But, if they're dorky little kids like I was/am, who love libraries and opening drawers full of doodads, they'll enjoy this museum! -
Review from Norah L.
Vancouver, BC
4/1/2012
Wow the blue whale skeleton is incredible! Other than that I wasn't too enthused about the museum. I do think it is good and has some interesting stuff, but it is quite dark and the layout is institutional. When I went there were more than a few items taken off display for cleaning or out on loan, some of the shelves were locked also. I wish there was more interactive activities to do for the adults and teenagers, for the people who learn by touch not by looking at something behind the class. I highly recommend one of the interpretive talks. Not much info is given with the display specimens, the staff have lots of interesting things to tell.
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Review from David L.
I couldn't believe it took me so long to visit this museum. Sure, the only hype I've heard about this museum has been the skeleton of a blue whale.
I've been to some famous museums such as Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, American Museum of Natural History, and Natural History Museum in London.
How does it compare?
First, this is one of the few museums in the world which has a skeleton of a blue whale on display. I will have to say this is probably the best one made for display! It's displayed in the front entrance and there is a lot of natural light which is awesome. Compared to a skeleton of a blue whale at the Natural History Museum in London, I really enjoyed Beaty's display of a blue whale skeleton the most. It would have been even more awesome if the entire skeleton was real. The skull of the blue whale at Beaty's is actually a replica.
I highly recommend a tour by a museum interpreter such as Tanis. It took about one hour and she showed us the museum is organized. She showed us some fun and interesting facts about species which used to inhabit North America, but they are now extinct. She brought out some species for us to look close up and touch. Most of the displayed items are from B.C. and Canada. There are many from North America and other parts of the world too.
I wish it wasn't so dark (shelves for displays are painted black!) and many of the shelves weren't opened for display. So, you'll be looking at a black wall with nothing for most of the shelves.
All in all, this is a very good natural history museum which is located inside a university. If you visited some of the more famous natural history museums, this one is still pretty cool because it has a lot of items from B.C. and the rest of Canada! -
Review from Peter S.
From the sneak peak so far, this is shaping up to be one of the coolest and most important museums in the province.
Standing alongside the 25 metre Blue Whale is truly humbling. I am still amazed that such creatures roam the planet. We are all quite insignificant!
I am hoping to see a few more of their collections during the upcoming previews before the grand opening in the fall. There's The Herbarium, The Spencer Entomological Collection, The Marine Invertebrate Collection, The Cowan Vertebrate Collection, The Fossil Collection and last but not least, The Fish Museum.
And If none of these 2 million specimens interest you... well, then I dunno. Go to wreck beach and gawk!Listed in: Learning is COOL!
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Review from Hilda L.
5/14/2011
Lovely museum. Love the giant skeleton right at the entrance. Also love the layout of the museum. Rows and (narrow) rows of dead stuffed animals & things in jars :p Yes, the layout is very boring (when I say rows and rows, it really is just that) but it makes for a easy way to navigate through the whole thing without worrying that you'd miss a thing! This museum is not very big. You can walk through it under 1.5 hour if you skim through it. Of course, if you open every drawer and read every signage you could spend days and days in here. There's a also a little "activity room" in the back for the youngsters.
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Review from David G.
Vancouver, BC
5/24/2011
Very cool!
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Review from Cathy B.
Tillsonburg, ON
5/7/2011
I visited this museum recently when my brother was visiting from Ontario. The skeleton of the blue whale that hangs from the ceiling of the atrium is truly amazing. It's at eye level when you walk into the building and then you walk down a ramp so that you can walk underneath and get a really good view. Just seeing the whale made the trip worth it, but there is more! This museum is filled with specimens of everything living - fossils, fish, insects, plants and fungi, marine, mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Most specimens come from BC but also from everywhere on Earth. This is a museum that you will probably want to visit more than once. You can buy a yearly membership for $35.00 (individual) plus get 2 free guest passes. Regular price is $10.00. There is much to see.
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Review from Jeff W.
Vancouver, BC
8/31/2010
New building by Patkau Architects with green roof and a huge custom collection area for 2,000,000 specimens. And that whale. Wow.
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Review from Lee N.
Vancouver, BC
8/19/2010
Stunning stunning stunning, but hey I'm a Marine Biologist by education. The Blue Whale skeleton is amazing it's on my gringo tour of Vancouver sites now I'll add it into the 2 -3 hours at the Museum of Anthropology.
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Review from Liz B.
Vancouver, BC
3/27/2011
I was SO looking forward to going to this museum and taking my boys who are just into all sorts of things. It promised so much - I mean the whale skeleton in the entrance hall and the way it is set up, with all of the information, is so enticing and just makes you even more excited. Then you get into the display section - oh, they have missed the mark here and managed to make a very sterile environment that is very traditional in its set-up. There are just rows upon rows of display cases with actually very little information for those not in the know, or wanting to learn something. Sure there are some impressive displays of various heads, stuff in jars and a few displays that you can pull out in drawers, but it could have been so much more. As one of the previous reviewers said, all the hard surfaces make for a very noisy environment. And the way they have set it all up really it does not make it a museum you want to return to again and again. OK, I'll admit that I have been totally spoilt and had been thinking it would be a smaller version of the Natural History Museum in London - I was very wrong. And I am not just talking about it in terms of attracting children, because I do realise that it is not always about that, but even as an adult fascinated this type of museum, I can see no reason for returning and the boys have not even asked if they can go again - to me, a sure sign that they were not gripped by anything.
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Review from Reena M.
9/2/2010 11 Check-ins Here
Sweet whale skeleton! The whole building is fantastic. It was built to be a sustainable building with a natural meadow-like feel in the courtyard. Great place to enjoy lunch!
