To preserve Ms. Blue, Halon Entertainment — a VFX studio known for its work on high-profile projects like Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, The Mandalorian, Fortnite and more — began by capturing 53 detailed LiDAR scans of the 87-foot skeleton. Members of the VFX team deployed the Leica RTC360, a portable 3D laser scanner capable of capturing data at up to 2 million points per second. The entire process took less than a day, and using that LiDAR data, Halon was able to create a photorealistic digital facsimile of Ms. Blue.

Working from the 3D model, Halon employed ZBrush and Substance Painter to “rebuild” the whale, adding skin and muscle. It then used Maya for reconfiguration and repositioning before uploading the digital Ms. Blue into Unity. Once in the game engine, Halon created a realistic series of animations based on the movement of whales in their natural environments. With a photorealistic, animated recreation of Ms. Blue completed, Halon built an app for the Center. Students and visitors will be able to interact with four original, animated lessons highlighting the life of blue whales. The team also created an augmented reality component to show Ms. Blue as she once was.

“Using the same tools our artists rely on to create award-winning VFX for films, episodics and games, our team was able to build something we are incredibly proud of,” said Jess Marley, Halon VFX supervisor and producer for the Ms. Blue project. “Working with the Seymour Center team, we hope the new Ms. Blue will help to educate thousands of people over the next few years, and possibly inspire a new generation of marine enthusiasts.”

Along with the digital replica of Ms. Blue, the Seymour Center is also planning to replace or repair the damaged bones in an effort to return the skeleton to its place outside the Seymour Research Center.

For the larger bones that are too heavily damaged to preserve, Seymour turned to 3D printers Swellcycle, a group known for creating sustainable surfboards, to create accurate replicas of Ms. Blue’s bones. Using dozens of LiDAR scans from the Leica RTC360, the 3D printing team began replicating the bones down to the grooves in the originals, using printing materials made from recycled hospital trays. For the original bones that were still viable but damaged, engineering professors and students at UC Santa Cruz developed a unique powdered putty, created from shrimp shells — coincidentally, one of the primary sources of food for blue whales. A few additional bones were archived for future research, including a proposed project aimed at tracing Ms. Blue’s origins and potentially identifying her descendants.

The AR replica of Ms. Blue and the four educational lessons will be available to visitors at the Seymour Marine Research Center in the future. The new skeletal model of Ms. Blue, including 3D printed replacements and repaired bones, is currently seeking additional donors for a debut in the coming months.