Te Papa’s fish and spirit collections closed for quake work

Te Papa’s fish and spirit collections closed for quake work

The National Fish Collection and the natural history spirit collections held by Te Papa at its Tory Street research facility have been closed temporarily while the building undergoes earthquake strengthening.

Containing one of the most comprehensive libraries of marine specimens in the Southern Hemisphere, the purpose-built facility is home to more than 240,000 specimens of fish and other marine animals, from microscopic molluscs to an enormous great white shark.

They are known as the Spirit Collections, as specimens are stored in jars and tanks of preserving spirits.

Te Papa spokesperson Kate Camp said the museum was taking a very conservative approach.

“The research facility wasn’t damaged in the November earthquake, but routine seismic checks have found that it doesn’t meet the high standard required for buildings that house national collections,” says Ms Camp.

“Te Papa is taking a precautionary approach and closing the spirit collections to staff and external researchers.”

Ms Camp said that the closure only applied the single storey where the spirit collections were held. Other floors of the building and other buildings on the same site were not affected. The collections are not normally open to the public.

Ms Camp said the museum regretted the inconvenience to the research community which uses the facility, including Te Papa’s own staff, who last year published the landmark four-volume reference book The Fishes of New Zealand, winner of the 2016 Whitley Medal for outstanding publication in Australasian zoology.

“This is an important area of research and a team that has achieved some incredible milestones. We look forward to having their facility returned to use as soon as possible,” Ms Camp said.

The timeline for completing the works and re-opening the facility is yet to be determined, as further engineering assessments and planning needs to be done, but it is expected to re-open before the end of the year.

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