iNatural History MuseumSouth Kensington
Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep
Dive back in time to meet the fiercest marine reptiles ever to swim the oceans, from giant ichthyosaurs to plesiosaurs, in this immersive deep-sea exhibition.
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On the way in you get a small pamphlet, and each information station along the route has an embossing stamp for a different sea monster. Time Out's critic admitted the idea is as old as time and said it was still really fun.
The show covers the marine reptiles of the dinosaur era: ichthyosaurs with their strange eye sockets, long-necked plesiosaurs, marine crocodiles and the mosasaur, billed as the T. rex of the sea. The fossils get bigger as you go and end with a complete plesiosaur. In between are short films and a lot to touch, including a real mosasaur tooth and some fossil poo. It's the only place in South Kensington where touching poo is encouraged.
Time Out gave it four stars and called it more consistently entertaining than the 2023 Titanosaur show, though with less screen-based interaction and a smaller finale. The Museum says most people spend 40 minutes to an hour inside, and recommends it for ages 8 and up.
Look for
The full plesiosaur
The last and largest fossil in the show; look closely for bite marks where sharks fed on the body after it died.
A real mosasaur tooth
You can touch it, and it's almost 70 million years old.
The megalodon film
One of several short films on the ancient oceans, and the one Time Out singled out as particularly horrifying.
Leedsichthys
A giant filter-feeding fish the size of a whale shark, one of a dozen or so species most visitors won't have heard of.
The scaly fish hide
A replica of a Jurassic fish's skin that you can run your hand over; Time Out's pick of the touch objects.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Small Kids
About 50 min
Skip if
Your children are under 8: the Museum recommends it for ages 8 and up.
With kids
Recommended for ages 8 and up. Children aged 4-17 pay £7.50 off-peak and £8.75 at weekends and in school holidays, and under-4s go free.
Free in the same building
- Blue Zone: Dinosaurs and Ocean LifeThe animatronic T. rex, an 82ft diplodocus cast, marine reptiles, and vast mammal skeletons - the museum's most popular galleries.
- Darwin CentreAn eight-storey cocoon housing 28 million insect and plant specimens. Scientists work behind glass - you can watch real research in progress.
- Green Zone: Hintze Hall and Earth SciencesHope the blue whale hangs in Hintze Hall, alongside fossils, minerals, a rare meteorite collection, and the jewel-filled Vault gallery.
- Red Zone: Earth GalleriesRide an escalator through a giant globe into galleries on volcanoes, earthquakes, minerals, and the forces that shape our planet.
Also at Natural History Museum
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Image credits
9
- Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the DeepCourtesy of Natural History Museum
- Becoming America: How Science Shaped a NationCourtesy of Science Museum
- Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and FriendsCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes ArtCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Natural History MuseumDiliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Science MuseumChristine Matthews / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Victoria and Albert MuseumDiliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Serpentine GalleryTxllxt TxllxT / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Saatchi GalleryAnthony O'Neil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0