From The Elephants to the Sea Turtle: The American Natural History Museum Gives Both Their Due

There’s something noble when an institution gives as much attention to the largest among us and the tiniest. Take the American Natural History Museum’s newest exhibitions which offer an extensive salute to the magnificent elephant, The Secret World of Elephants, and on another floor, the film, Turtle Odyssey tells the story of a baby sea turtle’s journey across the world.

These two exhibits alone will more than take up a whole day at the museum for families with young ones in tow. Smart thinking went into the placement of the elephant exhibit, found on the fourth floor, not too far from the popular dinosaur bones section. Since the new exhibit takes advantage of today’s technology, there’s plenty for the young ones to move, touch, see, and hear as they roam the great hall. 

A “lift the flap” station quizzes guests with questions and answers which makes for a short but fun family guessing game. There’s a super–huge and very woolly mammoth with a touch-station for kids as they follow a possible path of the mammoth as it travelled the world about 17,000 years ago. The full-scale model of an African elephant features a projected and narrated peek into the goings-on inside the body, such as how food moves through its digestion system and how babies evolve during their 22-month gestation. Kids can create their own elephant herds by placing magnetic elephants on the wall-size magnetic mural.

What may be the most interesting of elephant facts is the proof of their excellent memories by stories of elephants returning to water sources, migration routes, and even recognizing former companions. But probably the display that may attract the most attention is the one where various selections of elephant dung are displayed, with explanations of its importance to the environment like fertilizer, compost, and being a food source for birds, badgers, foxes and insects. 

Before departing the exhibit, there’s a short 12-minute inspirational film showcasing the efforts of the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary staff in Northern Kenya as they rehabilitate a rescued orphan named Shaba. Traumatized after witnessing the death of her mother, the calf is raised by the women, who are shown bottle-feeding the orphan during the day, and caring for her at night. We also see the process for how they return the older Shaba to the wild so she can find her place in one of the elephant herds that roam the plains. 

Now is the perfect time for the little ones to rest their legs and head to the LeFrak Theatre on the first floor for the 43-minute film, Turtle Odyssey, and follow Bunji, an Australian newborn green sea turtle.  Under the cover of moonlight, newly hatched Bunji makes a quick dash for the sea, avoiding predators along the way for the safety of a floating bed of seaweed. There Bunji will rest, keep warm, and munch on the seaweed while following the ocean currents. After what scientists call “the lost years,” sea turtles like Bunji return to their birthplace to mate and lay their own family of eggs in the sand so the cycle can begin again.

It’s been shown that the more we learn about the earth’s creatures and understand their purpose on the planet, the more we care about their safety and future. In the elephant exhibition, guests learn about the efforts to ban the ivory trade which would eliminate the poaching and deaths of so many. And as for the sea turtle, we learn about the dangers of plastic bags in the ocean. Turtles like Bunji feed on an ocean creature called a sea salp which resembles a jellyfish blob. As the plastic bag floats by Bunji, it’s obvious how much the turtles will munch on the bag and possibly blocking its digestive system.

There’s so much still learn about our world, and the American Natural History Museum is doing a remarkable job of sharing every new discovery with the next generation. 

The Turtle Odyssey film runs until January 5, 2025.

The Secret World of Elephants has no end date noted.

All other photos by MJ Hanley-Goff