Preview Critical Distance AR Experience at Manitoba Museum

An Orca Pod in Winnipeg? Immersive AR Experience “Critical Distance” Launches at Manitoba Museum for Ocean Week 2025

Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg, MB – May 28, 2025 — Nature Canada and the Manitoba Museum invite media to an exclusive preview of Critical Distance, a groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) experience that immerses visitors in the world of the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales of the Salish Sea on Canada’s West Coast.

Launching its Canadian tour in Winnipeg for Ocean Week 2025, Critical Distance transports visitors into the Salish Sea, home to a pod of endangered orcas known as the Southern Resident Killer Whales. Through social augmented reality, audiences follow eight-year-old Kiki and her family as they navigate the challenges of underwater noise and declining salmon stocks – threats driven by human activity.

The experience makes an emotionally powerful case for ocean conservation by blending technology and storytelling. Produced by Vision3, Critical Distance is going on tour with Nature Canada, in association with the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada.

Following the AR experience, Nature Canada invites visitors to join the movement to protect Canada’s ocean by connecting directly with ocean conservation experts through a “Ask the Experts” interaction. Visitors can ask whatever they want about the orcas, the threats to the Salish Sea, or the ocean in general. And they will receive real answers from experts including Indigenous elders, marine scientists, and nature advocates.

“It’s like sending fishy letters to Santa.” – Scott Mullenix, Exhibit Director, Nature Canada

MEDIA PREVIEW DETAILS

Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Manitoba Museum, 190 Rupert Avenue, Winnipeg

Opportunities:

• Experience the Critical Distance AR presentation
• Interview Nature Canada’s ocean conservation experts in-person
• Hear remarks about the national tour (including why we launched it thousands of kilometres from the coast)
• Light Refreshments

The following experts will be available for media interviews:

Adam Olsen  (SȾHENEP)
Lead Negotiator and Member, Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP)

Julia Laforge
Protected Areas Policy Manager, Nature Canada, Ottawa

Rebecca Brushett 
Marine Planning and Engagement Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre, Corner Brook and Halifax

Representatives from Vision3, Nature Canada, The Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada, and Manitoba Museum will also be available for comment.

Note: The AR experience contains flashing lights and loud sounds. It is recommended for visitors aged 10 and up.

Learn more about Critical Distance in the provided video, courtesy of Microsoft: click here.

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To RSVP or request interviews, please contact:

Scott Mullenix

Communications Director
Nature Canada
Media@NatureCanada.ca | 613.366.4776 (call or text)

Brandi Hayberg

Manager of Marketing & Communications
Manitoba Museum
BHayberg@ManitobaMuseum.ca | 204.988.0614

Treaty No. 1 Territory – Winnipeg, Manitoba – May 22, 2025 –Today, the Manitoba Museum issued a formal apology to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, acknowledging that it has held Ancestral remains and associated belongings from these communities within its collections.

The Museum held a closed Ceremony and gathering in respect for the Ancestors and kinship communities, with the guidance of Spiritual Advisors. Representatives witnessing this important moment included Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, Elders from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Leaders from Inuit and Métis communities, Chiefs of First Nations Communities across Manitoba, as well as representatives of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. They were joined by the Manitoba Museum Board of Governors, the Indigenous Advisory Circle to the Museum, and Museum staff who help to care for the Ancestors.

Following a Pipe Ceremony, Manitoba Museum CEO, Dorota Blumczyńska provided an official apology on behalf of the Museum.

“We sincerely and profoundly regret that the Museum has held Ancestors of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities within our collections for decades. In doing this, we know we have contributed to and played a role in colonialization. We apologize for our actions, inactions, and failures, past and present. We know that what is required now is that our actions be transparent, honest, and meaningful. This apology is just the beginning of the Homeward Journey of the Ancestors,” said Blumczyńska.

“We promise that no Ancestors will enter the Museum in the future.”

This apology to communities, is part of the Homeward Journey, which began at the Manitoba Museum in 2022. Guided by the Indigenous Advisory Circle and with a Spiritual Advisor’s blessing, Homeward Journey aims to identify and bring home Ancestors to their kinship communities.

The important work will take several years and will be led by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, in preparation, during, and after the Ancestors’ return.

The apology represents a significant milestone in the Manitoba Museum’s commitment to rematriation / repatriation – the return of Ancestors and associated belongings. Kevin Brownlee, former Curator of Archaeology, and member of Norway House Cree Nation (Kinosao Sipi) cared for the Ancestors and advocated for the establishment of dedicated funding for rematriation / repatriation of Ancestors and belongings. The Museum began the Homeward Journey in 2022 when the Museum committed to correct this historic injustice. The Museum’s Board of Governors regretfully acknowledged that bringing the Ancestors home was long overdue and took steps to set the work in motion.

“The Museum is committed to rebuilding trust with these communities, repairing those important relationships, and moving forward in a good way,” said Blumczyńska.

For more information about the Manitoba Museum’s Homeward Journey project please click here.

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Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
BHayberg@ManitobaMuseum.ca
204-988-0614

(Winnipeg, MB/Toronto, ON: May 14, 2025) – Palaeontologists at the Manitoba Museum and Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) have discovered a remarkable new 506-million-year-old predator from the Burgess Shale of Canada. The results are announced in a paper in the journal Royal Society Open Science (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.242122).

“Mosura has 16 tightly packed segments lined with gills at the rear end of its body. This is a neat example of evolutionary convergence with modern groups, like horseshoe crabs, woodlice, and insects, which share a batch of segments bearing respiratory organs at the rear of the body,” says Joe Moysiuk, Curator of Palaeontology and Geology at the Manitoba Museum, who led the study.

The reason for this intriguing adaptation remains uncertain, but the researchers postulate it may be related to particular habitat preference or behavioural characteristics of Mosura that required more efficient respiration.

With its broad swimming flaps near its midsection and narrow abdomen, Mosura was nicknamed the “sea-moth” by field collectors based on its vague appearance to a moth. This inspired its scientific name, which references the fictional Japanese kaiju also known as Mothra. Only distantly related to real moths – as well as spiders, crabs, and millipedes – Mosura belongs on a much deeper branch in the evolutionary tree of these animals, collectively known as arthropods.

“Radiodonts were the first group of arthropods to branch out in the evolutionary tree, so they provide key insight into ancestral traits for the entire group. The new species emphasizes that these early arthropods were already surprisingly diverse and were adapting in a comparable way to their distant modern relatives.” says study co-author Jean-Bernard Caron, Richard M. Ivey Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology at ROM.

Several fossils of Mosura additionally show details of internal anatomy, including elements of the nervous system, circulatory system, and digestive tract.

“Very few fossil sites in the world offer this level of insight into soft internal anatomy. We can see traces representing bundles of nerves in the eyes that would have been involved in image processing, just like in living arthropods. The details are astounding,” Caron adds.

Instead of having arteries and veins like we do, Mosura had an “open” circulatory system, with its heart pumping blood into large internal body cavities called lacunae. These lacunae are preserved as reflective patches that fill the body and extend into the swimming flaps in the fossils.

“The well-preserved lacunae of the circulatory system in Mosura help us to interpret similar, but less clear features that we’ve seen before in other fossils. Their identity has been controversial,” adds Moysiuk, who is also a Research Associate at ROM. “It turns out that preservation of these structures is widespread, confirming the ancient origin of this type of circulatory system.”

Of the 61 fossils of Mosura, all except one were collected by the ROM between 1975 and 2022, mostly from the Raymond Quarry in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Some also came from new areas around Marble Canyon in Kootenay National Park, 40 km to the southeast, which have revealed spectacular new Burgess Shale fossils, including other radiodonts: Stanleycaris, Cambroraster, and Titanokorys. One previously unpublished specimen of Mosura collected by Charles Walcott, the discoverer of the Burgess Shale, was also studied.

“Museum collections, old and new, are a bottomless treasure trove of information about the past. If you think you’ve seen it all before, you just need to open up a museum drawer,” Moysiuk says.

The Burgess Shale fossil sites are located within Yoho and Kootenay National Parks and are managed by Parks Canada. Parks Canada is proud to work with leading scientific researchers to expand knowledge and understanding of this key period of Earth’s history and to share these sites with the world through award-winning guided hikes. The Burgess Shale was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 due to its outstanding universal value and is now part of the larger Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.

Many radiodont fossils can be seen on display in ROM’s Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life, in Toronto, and a specimen of Mosura will be exhibited for the first time at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg later this year.

For 50 years, ROM has been at the forefront of Burgess Shale research, uncovering dozens of new fossil sites and species. Located in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks of British Columbia, the Burgess Shale fossils are exceptionally preserved and provide one of the best records of marine life during the Cambrian period anywhere. Home to the world’s largest Burgess Shale collection, ROM shares these extraordinary fossils through global research, an award-winning online resource, and its newest permanent exhibition: the Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life.

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Media Contact & Information

Image Gallery: A collection of images and a document with image captions & credits can be found here.

Dr. Joe Moysiuk

Curator of Palaeontology and Geology, Manitoba Museum

Research Associate, Royal Ontario Museum

Adjunct Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan

204 988 0648; JMoysiuk@ManitobaMuseum.ca

Dr. Jean-Bernard Caron (bilingual)

Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology, Royal Ontario Museum

Associate Professor, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto

416 586 5593; JCaron@rom.on.ca

Brandi Hayberg

Manager of Marketing & Communications, Manitoba Museum

204 988 0614; BHayberg@ManitobaMuseum.ca

David McKay

Senior Publicist, Royal Ontario Museum

416 586 5559; DavidM@rom.on.ca

TEMPORARY EXHIBITION REVEALS TREASURES FROM THE VAULT

Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba (May 13, 2025) – A temporary exhibition delving into the “What, Where, How, and Why” of museum collections opens today at the Manitoba Museum.

The Museum Collection Illuminated presents a snapshot of the diverse and extensive work undertaken throughout the Museum’s history of collecting. Research, conservation, exhibitions, and programs are featured in videos showing behind-the-scenes conservation and field work, interpretive panels, and a timeline graphic, alongside answers to frequently asked questions.

“This exhibition explores how and why we have museum collections, what we do with them, and how we preserve them. Visitors will not only gain a better understanding of how and why we collect artifacts and specimens, but also why museums are important cultural institutions.” – Dr. Amelia Fay, Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection.

The Museum Collection Illuminated showcases unusual artifacts and specimens, hand-selected from the vaults by the Museum curatorial team for their unique qualities, including an 11lb Giant Puffball mushroom, a gloriously gaudy bison horn chair from the 1880s, a 500 BCE Archaic period wine pitcher, and more.

The exhibition had been displayed previously during the height of COVID restrictions in 2021 at a time when the Museum was subject to closures and restrictions which greatly impacted visitation.

“As we enter our 55^th anniversary, its timely to reintroduce this exhibition to allow more visitors the opportunity to experience these significant and breath-taking artifacts and specimens representing the Museum Human and Natural History collections as we continue to celebrate community collaborations, scientific research, conservation achievements, and the continued commitment to public programs at the Museum. – Seema Hollenberg, Director of Research, Collections, and Exhibitions.

The Museum Collection Illuminated is now open in the Manitoba Museum’s Discovery Room and will be on display until May 2026. Entrance into this temporary exhibition is included with a Manitoba Museum All Attraction Pass. Manitoba Museum members and Indigenous Peoples can access this exhibition at no charge. Click here to plan your visit.

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Media Inquiries: 

Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
BHayberg@ManitobaMusuem.ca

NEW EXHIBITION AT THE MANITOBA MUSEUM

Members of the media are invited to the Manitoba Museum to preview The Museum Collection Illuminated, a temporary exhibition opening May 13, 2025 in the Museum’s Discovery Room.

The Museum Collection Illuminated explores the “What, Where, How, and Why” of museum collections and presents a snapshot of the diverse and extensive work undertaken throughout the Museum’s history of collecting. Research, conservation, exhibitions, and programs are featured in videos showing behind-the-scenes conservation and field work, interpretive panels, and a timeline graphic, alongside answers to frequently asked questions.

The exhibition showcases unusual artifacts and specimens, hand-selected from our vaults by our curatorial team for their unique qualities, including an 11lb Giant Puffball mushroom, a gloriously gaudy bison horn chair from the 1880s, a 500 BCE Archaic period wine pitcher, and more.

Members of the media are invited to preview the exhibition by appointment between 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm on Monday, May 12, 2025. Please contact Brandi Hayberg at BHayberg@ManitobaMuseum.ca to arrange a preview.
The following exhibition contributors will be available for interviews:

• Dr. Amelia Fay, Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection.
• Dr. Joseph Moysiuk, Curator of Palaeontology & Geology

The Museum Collection Illuminated will be open to the public starting Monday, May 13, 2025. Entrance into this temporary exhibition is included with a Manitoba Museum All Attraction Pass. Manitoba Museum Members and Indigenous Peoples can access this exhibition at no charge.

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Media Inquiries: 

Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
BHayberg@ManitobaMusuem.ca