Smithsonian Institution A female whale named Phoenix, nearly 50 feet long, will be the focal point of a new state-of-the-art Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).

The 47-foot fin whale that washed up on the Anchorage mudflats in November, drawing hundreds of visitors and becoming a citywide phenomenon, has found a permanent home at a Wasilla museum.