Museu da Baleia da Madeira - A História da Caça à Baleia e a Preservação dos Cetáceos

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The Madeira Whale Museum holds several spaces with different purposes not only for the permanent and temporary exhibitions, but also houses areas dedicated to research, educational services and museum shop. We invite you to visit the museum’s several facilities and get to know all that it has to offer.

Permanent exhibitions

The spaces with larger areas were assigned to the Museology/History department, which includes the "Whaling Room" , the “Cetacean Room” and the deposit of museum collections. The aim is to disseminate the essence of the whole Institution and enhance attractiveness, uniqueness, communicational and educational abilities that museology may have through the permanent exhibitions. It is our belief that the permanent exhibitions are the main attraction and means of communication with the general public and a major source of direct revenue through admissions, and indirectly through the sale merchandising products in the museum shop.

The Whale Museum’s new permanent exhibitions were designed to introduce two major themes in a dynamic, didactic and attractive way, “Whaling History in Madeira” and “Cetaceans and marine life”. Each one of these subjects is divided into subthemes which makes the presentation of contents easier for the visitor.

The exhibitions were translated into five different languages (Portuguese, English, German, Spanish and French) with suitable contents for various age groups. In order to pass on the information several different means were used such as subtitles, audio guides, films and electronic kiosks. These means of knowledge transmission complement one another and allow the visitant to explore the various contents along with curiosity and interest.

Learn more about the exhibition here and take a look into the Whaling Room and Cetaceans Room, , in our virtual tour.

Temporary Exhibitions

The museology department is responsible for the development, along with the Educational Services, of temporary exhibitions of various themes, whether they are designed by the Museum or from external entities. In order to do so, the new building has an area for temporary exhibitions. The museum also exchanges temporary exhibitions with other institutions and uses other spaces (e.g. shopping centres, Civic Centres, Showrooms, etc…) to divulge and present its exhibitions to the community, after being displayed in the Whale Museum.

Find out our Temporary Exhibitions room

Science

The science department has offices and laboratories, storage for biological reference collections, necropsy room, cold stores and freezer chambers for stranded animals. This department is mainly dedicated to scientific research and has been involved in several research projects. To learn more about the projects in which the Madeira Whale Museum is involved click here.

Educational Services

The Museum's educational services have a didactic room which is equipped with a set of teaching materials, educational games, sensory kits and experiential activities that allow visitors, especially the younger ones, to explore various themes on the sea and marine life, especially the cetaceans.

Next to the didactic room is the classroom, which is the scope of educational services dedicated to the development of activities designed for schools, especially the implementation of the educational programme of the Whale Museum. This program is an educational tool that uses the sea, the history of whaling in Madeira, cetaceans and marine life as main themes of a set of activities, often scientific/experiential and most of them with a strong practical component, that complements the curricula of different disciplines and different age groups. This is an extensive program that has activities ranging from pre-school up to 12th grade and various disciplines, including science, mathematics, natural science, English and history. Various activities and specific educational content are designed for students with special educational needs. In order to captivate the younger ones and to create an appealing image for the educational services, a mascot was created

Go on our virtual tour.

Marketing department/Commercial Services – Museum’s Shop

The building also houses a series of spaces with commercial functions. So there is a cafeteria for the visitors, two stores to be exploited by third parties and the Museum’s Shop which is exploited by the institution. In this shop apart from traditional products a set of unique products with trademarks "Museu da Baleia da Madeira ®" and "mbmwear®" is also sold.

The store was given the name ALAMAR (amalgam of beyond + sea), which comes from a popular term used in a fishing context, conveying the idea of distance compared to the coast and it was taken from an interview made by the current Director of the Museum, Ana Nóbrega, to a former whaler, Mr. Manuel Moreira.

Visit the Museum Store and buy a gift for you and your loved ones!

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Museum’s auditorium

The Whale Museum has an auditorium with 56 seats that can be used for workshops, conferences and other initiatives promoted by the Whale Museum or to be rented to external entities who might want to use the space for their initiatives. Next to the auditorium, there is a temporary exhibition room, a multipurpose space that can be used not only to receive exhibitions but also to accommodate other initiatives, it can be rented with or without the auditorium.

Take a look at the auditorium in our virtual tour.

Contactos

Virtual Tour

R.A.C.A.M.