SLU Researcher Serves as Scientist in Residence for the Saint Louis Science Center’s 'The Blue Whale Story,’ Which Opens Saturday

05/21/2026

Jean Potvin and other SLU researchers will host presentations throughout the exhibit’s seven-month run 

SLU professor of physics Jean Potvin, Ph.D., has spent years studying the science of whales. Soon, St. Louis residents can hear directly from him. 

As a part of the Saint Louis Science Center’s new traveling exhibition, The Blue Whale Story, opening this weekend, Potvin is serving as scientist in residence.  

Potvin helped to develop a special display about whales visitors can view at the Science Center. Presentations hosted by Potvin and other SLU researchers will be scheduled throughout the year on:  

• How baleen whales have inspired a filter cleaning system to remove microplastics from water, including a special project undertaken at Spanish Lake in North St. Louis County. 
• How researchers attach non-invasive video trackers on whales to follow their movement and monitor behaviors. 
• The vocalization styles and communication methods of blue whales and other baleen whale species. 

The Blue Whale Story at the Saint Louis Science Center 

Combining life-sized models, scientific discovery, hands-on interactives and compelling storytelling, the Saint Louis Science Center’s new traveling exhibition, The Blue Whale Story, shares the life story of the largest creature to have ever lived on Earth. The exhibition opens Saturday, May 23, in the Science Center’s Boeing Hall, located on the First Floor of the Oakland Avenue building, near the main entrance and continues into January 2027. 

Produced and circulated by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada, The Blue Whale Story reveals the immense size, majestic beauty and critical vulnerability of blue whales and presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand alongside an ocean giant. Designed to be both awe-inspiring and thought-provoking, the exhibition provides a deeper understanding of these elusive creatures and their impact on the surrounding ocean. Featured display items include: 

• A life-sized replica of “Blue,” an 80-foot long, female blue whale skeleton. 
• The world’s only full-scale blue whale heart model. 
• A full-scale model of a blue whale jaw. 
• The “Whale Sound Chamber” that projects surround-sound whale calls to learn how these animals communicate. 
• “License to Krill,” an exciting game of survival, where participants dodge dangerous obstacles and “dive deep” to capture and eat krill (the predominant part of the blue whale diet). 
• A display on whale evolution from a 4-legged, wolf-sized and deer-like mammal (Pakicetus) that lived on land 50 million years ago to the modern-day ocean giant. 
• Displays highlighting the devastating impact of commercial whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries and the current science and preservation efforts to help whale populations recover. 
• Presentations on active whale-focused research underway in St. Louis that inspire improvements to marine life and waterways around the globe. 

Rooted in real science, The Blue Whale Story began with the tragic loss of nine endangered North Atlantic blue whales, including “Blue”, that became trapped in sea ice off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in 2014. Although the passing of these animals represented a significant loss for an already vulnerable population (about 4 percent of the species living at the time), two of those whales were recovered and studied by ROM scientists, and this research provided an opportunity to examine blue whales like never before. This exhibition reveals what the research uncovered and shares details about the biology, behavior, evolution and more of the blue whale. 

Event Information

• When: The Blue Whale Story opens to the public at 9:30 a.m., on Saturday, May 23, and runs through Jan. 10, 2027. 
• Where: Saint Louis Science Center Boeing Hall, 5050 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110 
• Ticket information: While admission to the Science Center is free, tickets for a specific timed entry are required to enter The Blue Whale Story. Tickets are $8 for current or new Science Center members. For non-members, tickets are $16 for adults (ages 13-59); $12 for children (ages 5-12); $14 those ages 60 or older and military personnel; and $10 per person for groups of 10 or larger. Children 4 and under are free but must obtain a ticket to enter the exhibition. 

Tickets are on sale through the Science Center website, by phone at 314-289-4424 or in person at the Science Center.