Sharks

Agency: Sharks
Client: American Museum of Natural History

Sharks immersed visitors in the fascinating underwater world of ancient and modern shark species. Using the popular notion of sharks as toothy, fearsome predators to draw visitors in, the exhibit challenged these assumptions by highlighting the intelligence and complex lives of these creatures. Curator John Sparks noted that “Sharks and their relatives are an incredibly old, diverse group of organisms that are critical to maintaining the health of the ecosystems they inhabit. In fact, humans are much more of a threat to sharks than they are to us. We hope people walk away from this exciting exhibition with a new appreciation for sharks and understand they are magnificent creatures that should be revered, not feared.” Sharks offered visitors a unique look at prehistoric and modern species, their habitats and hunting styles, and the conservation threats these spectacular animals face today.

As visitors entered the exhibition, they were greeted by the gaping 27 foot long jaws of a scientifically accurate model of megalodon—the biggest predatory fish of all time. Visitors were surrounded by dynamic media displays of sharks gliding alongside them, inviting them into a colorful, engaging and immersive ocean world. Fossils from the museum’s extensive palaeoichthyology collection were showcased alongside interpretation informed by the latest research. To bring these fossils to life, the exhibit included a spectacular “parade” of life-size ancient and modern sharks, ranging from 5 inches to 33 feet long, including the prehistoric mega-predator megalodon, the “Tyrannosaurus rex of the seas.” Many of the models were made in-house by the AMNH’s world-renowned model makers specifically for this exhibit, and roughly a third were reused from the museum’s storage to promote sustainability. Visitors also learned about new discoveries, including a great white nursery near New York City, how manta rays filter-feed, and a kitefin shark that is the largest-known glowing vertebrate. The exhibit also highlighted various threats facing sharks as well as efforts by dedicated people working hard to protect them through conservation solutions such as shark sanctuaries and sustainable seafood products. The pandemic was still a concern when Sharks was at the AMNH, so touchless interactive experiences were critical to engage visitors safely. Using a touchless interactive pattern-matching game, visitors learned how scientists use the spots on whale sharks (like fingerprints) to identify individual fish. Another touchless interactive used motion sensors to allow visitors to “hunt like a hammerhead” using the shark’s sense of electro reception (which allows sharks to detect invisible electromagnetic fields to find food). The exhibit concluded with a third touchless interactive that invited visitors to “be a shark” by standing in front of a video display where they were transformed into various species, as if swimming with the sharks. As a travelling exhibit, Sharks is environmentally sustainable. It will be reused and recycled by visiting several museums and will be enjoyed by thousands of museum visitors all over the world for many years to come, which means it will have a lower carbon footprint than a one-off temporary exhibit.