The mystery of whale vertebrae: how blue whale bones linked the South Atlantic and London

Two huge blue whale vertebrae with faded labels caught the eye of Dr Sofia Nikolova at London's Natural History Museum.

Who would have thought that these bones would be the key to unravelling the story linking the South Atlantic, colonial exhibition and early attempts to protect whales?

The worn labels read '6 November 1924, Falkland Islands' and the cryptic reference 'Wembley Exhibition'. Sophia and her colleague Richard Sabin wondered: what was this exhibition?

It turned out to be the British Imperial Exhibition of 1924-1925, a grand event attended by 27 million people. The exhibition showcased the power and wealth of the British Empire, including exotic exhibits from the colonies.

The Falklands Pavilion represented the islands and their dependencies, including South Georgia, then the epicentre of whaling. The latest advances in whale hunting were exhibited here: harpoons, knives and... huge whale bones.

Thanks to the museum's archives, Sophia discovered that the vertebrae had been donated to the museum by Sir Sidney Harmer, the museum's director at the time. The bones belonged to blue whales harvested off the coast of South Georgia and had lain on the beach for a year before being shipped to London.

Harmer was one of the first to sound the alarm about declining whale numbers and call for regulation of whaling. Perhaps these vertebrae helped him in his research and speeches.

But the story doesn't end there. It turns out that the museum received many items from that exhibition, including rare animals from around the world.

The discovery has prompted scientists to reconsider the connection between the museum's collections and its colonial past.