CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Conservator Valerie Free vacuums dust off the ribs of the century-old sperm whale display at Bishop Museum yesterday. The cleaning of one of the most famous exhibits in the museum's Hawaiian Hall is part of a $20 million renovation.
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Whale of a job
It takes a lot of care to clean off this Bishop Museum specimen
Cleaning more than 100 years of dust off the massive sperm whale suspended from the ceiling of the Bishop Museum is a bit like housekeeping for conservator Valerie Free.
Free, who restores historic objects, joked that she felt like a "glorified housekeeper" yesterday on the third day of cleaning one of the most famous exhibits in the museum's Hawaiian Hall, now undergoing a $20 million renovation.
"We're probably doing a better job than the guys would," quipped assistant Angelica Anguiano. The whale skeleton should pass the white-glove test by next week.
The skeleton of the full-size male -- 55 1/2 feet long and weighing more than 4,300 pounds -- was the first specimen installed in Hawaiian Hall, and one of the first of its kind in any museum in the world. A papier-mache covering was added to half of the skeleton to mimic skin.
"This is the first thorough cleaning" the whale has undergone since its installation in 1902, said Charlie Aldinger, Bishop Museum spokeswoman. Two light dustings were done in the past, but without scaffolding, deep cleaning was impossible, she said.
Armed with vacuum cleaners, wool dusters and paintbrushes for the nooks and crannies, Free said the job was "very strenuous."
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Bishop Museum conservator Valerie Free vacuumed dust from the backbone of the sperm whale's skeleton yesterday. She and assistant Angelica Anguiano were into their third day of cleaning the massive century-old display.
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"We need to concentrate and work slowly, be real careful," she said.
The amount of dust and debris that accumulated over the century was "quite amazing," she said, noting items like pencils, rubber bands and gum wrappers were thrown into the belly of the whale.
Climbing to the highest point of the scaffolding and leaning over to clean inside the skull of the whale was a "killer," Free said.
"You never get used to how big they are," she said, agreeing it would be easy for the biblical character Jonah to be swallowed whole by a whale. "There's a lot of room for a human to stand up in here ... and he could fit through the gullet," she said.
Free and Anguiano wore hard hats, full-length coveralls, dust masks, goggles, earplugs and heavy harnesses to protect them from falling. "It gets pretty hot," wearing their apparel with no air conditioning, Anguiano said.
"The whale sways while we're working. I was scared of heights at first, but now I just want to get it done," she said.