ROM looking for donations to unveil its Trout River blue whale skeleton exhibit

Canada's largest museum needs help to display the world's largest mammal.

This spring, Royal Ontario Museum plans to unveil its Trout River, Newfoundland, blue whale skeleton, and it's already started fundraising for the much-anticipated exhibit.

Called Make a Splash, the ROM hopes to raise $100,000 to help pay for the blockbuster exhibit.

• Digging up bones: Royal Ontario Museum moves to next stage of blue whale project

"There was so much excitement around the whale right from day one," said Susan Horvath, of the ROM's board of governors.

"We thought, 'We need to find a way people can get involved personally.'"

The bloated blue whale carcass washed up in Trout River in April of 2014, causing local concern, a big stink and national headlines, on the tiny community's waterfront.

The museum stepped in and de-fleshed the whale and transported its bones back to Ontario to begin the process of preserving the skeleton with the idea to display it in time for Canada's 150th anniversary. 

Your name here

Horvath said with a donation of $40, people will have their name added to an artistic display in the museum.

"Your name will be put on a beautiful image of a whale as recognition. We see people … putting all three kids' names on the whale, so it's terrific," she said.

The graphic will be in the main lobby of the ROM for the duration of the six-month exhibit, and Horvath hopes it will act as a sneak peek of what they'll see inside. 

"It's a fantastic intro for people to come in and see the real whale."

The Trout River whale will remain in the ROM's permanent collection and Horvath said parts of it will continue to be displayed in the future.

You can make a donation to the ROM by visiting its website.  

In the meantime, the whale bones are being de-greased before they can be reassembled and displayed. Horvath hopes the exhibit will be ready for March 2017.

"There's a lot of work still to be done," she said.