'Crystal' whale bones go on show

The exhibition focuses on climate change

The preserved bones of a whale are to go on display at an exhibition on climate change.

The 6m minke whale has been preserved by artists who recovered the bones from a beach near Skegness.

It will form part of a show entitled The Ship: The Art of Climate Change, at the Natural History Museum, in central London, on 3 June.

Crystals formed around the whale's bones after it was placed in a hot chemical solution.

Climatic toll

As it cooled down, alum crystals started to form and attach themselves to the bones, effectively embalming them.

Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey said they were inspired after seeing arctic beaches littered with thousands of whale bones.

"This brought home to us the scale of the slaughter of these creatures," said Ms Ackroyd.

"There was a huge worldwide demand for whale oil in the 19th century, now we have a huge worldwide demand for fossil fuel.

"Both have taken a toll on the oceans."

The exhibition displays photographs, sculpture, paintings and film capturing an artist's view of the changing weather patterns in the Arctic.