Our exhibition Sea Stories is now on display, exploring Orkney’s deep-rooted maritime connections. From shipwrecks to sea magic, from whale strandings to the Southern Ocean, the thread which ties these objects together is their shared connection to the sea. Link to more information in our bio.
Sea Stories runs until April 2027. Stromness Museum is grateful to the following organisations for helping to make this exhibition possible:
@bamukandireland , @siemens_uk , @ssentransmission , @uhiarchaeology , @transectsproject , Orkney Heritage Society, @natlibscot .
It's Norwegian Constitution day, celebrated in Orkney thanks to strong ties since the 8th century. In the 1950-60's Norwegian whaling ships were often seen in Stromness harbour, with local men employed in Antarctic whaling. Discover Orkney's Antarctic whaling past in our current Sea Stories exhibition (link in bio).
🎨: 'Norwegian Whalers in Stromness Harbour' by Ian MacInnes in 1960-1970.
We're busy preparing for our 'Birds and their beaks!' event as part of the @orkneynaturefestival tomorrow. Join us at 11am-3pm on Sat 16 May for tours of our bird collection and fun, bird-beakish activities for bird-lovers young and old! ℹ️: via link in our bio.
Join us this Saturday for Birds and their beaks! As part of the @orkneynaturefestival we’re giving guided tours of Stromness Museum’s bird collection and offering family-friendly activities about bird beaks. 11am-3pm this Sat 16 May. ℹ️ via link in our bio.🐦⬛🐦🦉
A researcher, William Speirs Bruce,
Put the Antarctic's secrets to use.
With a map and a net,
On a cold, frozen bet,
The data he found was profuse.
Happy #NationalLimerickDay! Learn all about the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition led by William Speirs Bruce in 1902-04 at our current Sea Stories exhibition (link in bio). 🐧
Here’s our Museum Climate Change Exhibitions and Outreach Officer Katy Firth doing some maintenance on the #shooglyholm floating sculpture by @jennypopeartist yesterday 🌊 🤿 Find out more about the buoyant sculpture and its underwater bug hotel mooring on our website (link in bio). 🦀🪸
It can be hard to imagine the ‘Stronsay Beast’ as a living creature from the partial remains and sketches in our Sea Stories exhibition, so huge thanks to @longhope.lifeboat.museum for sending us this fantastic pen portrait by lifelong seafarer Bill Mowatt. He “saw the sea-serpent…hundreds of times”, swimming in the sea while he was working on a fishing boat:
“It dived with a different motion altogether from the seal. It put its head out of the water to a distance of two feet. I think the best way I can describe the neck is by saying that it was shaped like a concertina... It often followed the fishing boats. The head was very small. I have seen it underneath my boat and it was grey and white beneath. I reckoned that it was 12 to 15 feet long and five to six feet across... It seemed quite harmless... It was the strangest thing I ever saw around the Berry.”
Find out about the 'Stronsay Beast' and how it became the subject of widespread scientific curiosity and public fascination in our current Sea Stories exhibition (link in bio).
📷: Anatomical drawings of bones by Dr Barclay in 1808 from @biodivlibrary
📰: Extract from @theorcadian 30 April 1936
It's World Scurvy Day! Scurvy is a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency and used to be a risk of life at sea, especially for whalers. Ships were often trapped in and sometimes crushed by the Arctic sea ice. Many men died or returned suffering from scurvy and frostbite. In 1835-1836, Mrs Humphrey’s house was converted into a makeshift hospital to care for sailors who had been ice-bound all winter.
🐋 Learn more whaling tales in our current Sea Stories exhibition. 🧭 Find Mrs Humphrey's House on the Blue Plaque Trail, via the Digital Trails link in our bio.
📷: OpenPlaques.org
#WorldScurvyDay #ScurvyDay
Artefact unpacking video ✨ here’s @hb_conservation unwrapping the Hudson’s Bay Factory Governor William Tomison’s sword and lance. Hanna’s been busy restoring the items donated to Stromness Museum by Tomison’s descendant Vicki Box last year.
#unpacking #unboxing #unwrapping #asmr
