Skip to main content

Main navigation

  • Our Museums
    • Visit our Museums
      • WA Museum Boola Bardip
      • WA Maritime Museum
      • WA Shipwrecks Museum
      • Museum of Geraldton
      • Museum of the Goldfields
      • Museum of the Great Southern
  • What's on
    • What's on at our Museums
      • WA Museum Boola Bardip
      • WA Maritime Museum
      • WA Shipwrecks Museum
      • Museum of Geraldton
      • Museum of the Goldfields
      • Museum of the Great Southern
    • For members
      • Members save!
  • News
  • Collections
    • Research areas
      • Anthropology and Archaeology
      • Aquatic Zoology
      • Earth & Planetary Sciences
      • History
      • Maritime Archaeology
      • Maritime History
      • Materials Conservation
      • Molecular Systematics Unit
      • Terrestrial Zoology
    • Collections and research resources
      • Online Collections
      • Online Datasets
      • Records and Supplements
      • Research Projects
      • Shipwreck Databases
      • WA Museum Library
    • External resources
      • Collections WA
      • Culture WA
      • WAnderland
  • Learn
    • Education programs
      • WA Museum Boola Bardip
      • WA Maritime Museum
      • WA Shipwrecks Museum
      • Museum of Geraldton
      • Museum of the Goldfields
      • Museum of the Great Southern
    • Resources
      • Apps
      • Blogs
      • Field guides
      • Online exhibitions
      • Podcasts
      • Videos
  • About
    • Contact us
      • Contact the WA Museum
    • About the Museum
      • Background and Mission
      • Trustees & Advisory Committees
      • Reconciliation Action Plan
      • Corporate Documents
      • Media
      • Jobs
    • Partnerships
      • National Anzac Centre
      • Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company
  • Get involved
    • Membership
      • Become a member
    • Stay Connected
      • WA Museum on Facebook
      • WA Museum on Instagram
      • WA Museum on Twitter
      • WA Maritime Museum on Facebook
    • Support
      • Foundation for the WA Museum
      • Our Partners and Donors [external]
      • Volunteer
  • Shop
    • Shop online
      • Visit the WA Museum Online Store
    • Membership and tickets gift voucher
      • Buy a WA Museum Gift Voucher
WA Maritime Museum

Museum Menu

  • Visit
    Visit
    • Plan a visit
    • Exhibitions
      • 40th Anniversary of Australia II America’s Cup Victory
      • Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators
      • HMAS Ovens
      • The Martuwarra Fitzroy River: Lifeblood of the Kimberley
    A black and white photograph of Fremantle's South Mole
    Fremantle Then & Now: Historical Panoramas
    An underwater illustration of a huge sea monster preying on a shark
    Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators
  • Education
    Education
    • Education programs
    • Planning an excursion
    • Professional learning
    • Self-guided excursions
    Seated children in school uniform look inside an old-fashioned suitcase
    Education programs
    Person looking at artefacts
    Self-guided excursions
  • Tours & events
    Tours & events
    • Under the Dome: Cinema Experience
    • View all tours & events
    Two men look up at suspended yacht, pointing upward
    Highlights Tour
    under the dome
    Under the Dome: Cinema Experience
  • Membership
    Membership
    • Become a member
    • Membership renewal
    • Members save!
    A pink banner with images of people experiencing the Museum
    Become a member
  • Venue hire
    Venue hire
    • Venue hire
    • Download Venue Hire Brochures
    A close-up photograph of a banquet table decorated with white flowers and tall white candles
    Venue hire
An underwater illustration of a huge sea monster preying on a shark
WA Maritime Museum

Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators

Dates

Saturday 1 April – Sunday 16 July 2023

Tickets

Bookings coming soon.

 

Education

Information for education groups.

Not for the faint-hearted, Sea Monsters is enough to give Jaws nightmares.

Millions of years ago, while dinosaurs ruled the land, giant reptiles over 20 metres long hunted the depths of the sea – and they’re coming back to life at WA Maritime Museum.

Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators brings together real fossils from millions of years ago, gigantic life-sized casts from actual specimens, including a 13-metre long Elasmosaurus and nine-metre Prognathdon, immersive multimedia, and hands-on interactives to raise from the dead these ancient monsters of the deep.

The exhibition features over 70 exhibits and includes a huge 1.4-metre Kronosaurus jaw. There is also an incredible ichthyosaur specimen giving birth and a five-metre-long fish that died after swallowing another fish whole.

About the exhibition

Seriously scary sea monster facts
  1. Marine reptiles originally evolved on land and then went back to the sea.
  2. The biggest marine reptile was the 24-metre Shonisaurus, a type of ichthyosaur.
  3. Australia’s top plesiosaur predator, the Kronosaurus, had a bite force of 3 tonnes – more than a saltwater crocodile.
  4. The mosasaur Prognathodon’s head was so heavy; if it had lived on land, it couldn’t have lifted it.
  5. The first sea monster fossils were discovered about 50 years before we found any dinosaurs – we’ve known about them for around 250 years.
  6. Sea monsters ruled the oceans for over 180 million years (modern humans have only been around for about 300,000 years).
  7. Some ichthyosaurs could swim at speeds of 40 kilometres per hour.
  8. Some Australian sea monster fossils have become stunning and valuable opals.
  9. We can learn about what sea monsters ate by looking at their fossilised poo, called coprolites.
  10. The plesiosaur Albertonectes had 72 neck bones – more than any other animal. We have only seven.
About some prominent sea monsters

Dolichorhynchops

  • Lived 80-90 million years ago 
  • Name means “long snout” 
  • Approximately the size of a dolphin 
  • Fast swimmer that fed on fish and squid 
  • Had no external ears, making it possibly deaf to airborne sounds 

Tylosaurus 

  • Lived 73-80 million years ago 
  • One of the largest mosasaurs 
  • Among the largest and most ferocious predators of any era 
  • Grew to between 35 and 45 feet long 
  • Eyes were as big as grapefruit 
  • Had four rows of sharp, cone-shaped teeth to seize and crush prey, and could swallow prey whole 

Styxosaurus

  • Lived 80-85 million years ago 
  • A member of the plesiosaurs 
  • Its neck was 20 feet long — up to half its body length 
  • Each of its flippers was the size of an adult human 
  • Swallowed hundreds of small rocks to help grind up meals 

Xiphactinus 

  • Lived 70-95 million years ago 
  • Largest bony fish of Late Cretaceous, reaching 20 feet long 
  • Nicknamed the “bulldog” fish because of upwards thrust of jaw 
  • Able to swallow prey up to half its length 
  • Often fed on a 6-foot fish called a Gillicus

Cretoxyrhina 

  • Lived 82-95 million years ago 
  • Largest of the Late Cretaceous sharks, reaching 22-24 feet long 
  • Cretoxyrhinateeth have been found in Tylosaurusremains, clues that these two predators may have encountered each other 
  • Sharks outlasted extinction of all marine reptiles, except sea turtles 
  • Was similar in size and role to the modern great white shark

Hesperonis 

  • Lived 65-89 million years ago 
  • Large flightless bird that swam in the ocean 
  • Swam and fed much like modern penguins 
  • Grew as big as 5-6 feet long from beak to foot 
  • Had teeth in its beak to help with holding prey
Accessibility
Accessibility

This event is wheelchair accessible.

50% visual content rating – Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators has both sound and visual components.

50% aural content rating – Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators has sound components.

If you have any questions about access, please get in touch with us via reception@museum.wa.gov.au or on (08) 9021 8533.

 

 

An Australian National Maritime Museum touring exhibition in partnership with Queensland Museum Network

Logos for WA Maritime Museum and Australian National Maritime Museum

In partnership with

Queensland Museum Network and Queensland Government logos

The Western Australian Museum acknowledges and respects the Traditional Owners of their ancestral lands, waters and skies.

Footer menu

  • Western Australian Museum family
  • Accessibility
  • Contact us
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • wa.gov.au
  • Ticketing terms and conditions

COVID-19 UPDATE

At the Western Australian Museum, the health and safety of our visitors, volunteers and employees is our priority.

We have a COVID-19 Safety Plan in place and we are following Government advice.

We have increased the scope of our cleaning regime, and we have hand sanitiser available for visitors.

We ask that all visitors practice physical distancing where possible and good hygiene. If feeling unwell, particularly if experiencing a fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath, please visit on another day.

For more information visit the WA Government website.

All content copyright Government of Western Australia, All rights reserved.

Footer Submenu

  • Sitemap
WA Maritime Museum

Museum Menu

  • Visit
    Visit
    • Plan a visit
    • Exhibitions
      • 40th Anniversary of Australia II America’s Cup Victory
      • Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators
      • HMAS Ovens
      • The Martuwarra Fitzroy River: Lifeblood of the Kimberley
    A black and white photograph of Fremantle's South Mole
    Fremantle Then & Now: Historical Panoramas
    An underwater illustration of a huge sea monster preying on a shark
    Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Ocean Predators
  • Education
    Education
    • Education programs
    • Planning an excursion
    • Professional learning
    • Self-guided excursions
    Seated children in school uniform look inside an old-fashioned suitcase
    Education programs
    Person looking at artefacts
    Self-guided excursions
  • Tours & events
    Tours & events
    • Under the Dome: Cinema Experience
    • View all tours & events
    Two men look up at suspended yacht, pointing upward
    Highlights Tour
    under the dome
    Under the Dome: Cinema Experience
  • Membership
    Membership
    • Become a member
    • Membership renewal
    • Members save!
    A pink banner with images of people experiencing the Museum
    Become a member
  • Venue hire
    Venue hire
    • Venue hire
    • Download Venue Hire Brochures
    A close-up photograph of a banquet table decorated with white flowers and tall white candles
    Venue hire

Corporate menu

  • Western Australian Museum
  • Our Locations
  • Background
  • Collections
  • Online Store
  • Membership
    • Members only
  • What's On
    • School Holidays

We recognise and respect the Traditional Owners of this Country and their connection to the lands, waters and skies.

WA Maritime Museum

Corporate menu

  • Western Australian Museum
  • Our Locations
  • Background
  • Collections
  • Online Store
  • Membership
    • Members only
  • What's On
    • School Holidays