If your relatives were whales, you would do whatever you could to revere and save them. The Maori, indigenous people of New Zealand, believe they are descendants of the whales. Inspired by their reverence for the largest of mammals, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa is helping to educate the world about the creatures while bringing attention to their purpose on the planet with the exhibition "Whales/Tahora." Tahora means whale in the Maori language.

The traveling exhibition opened Friday night at the Carnegie Museum with a preview party featuring a sneak peek of the exhibit, performances, dinner and dessert. Director of the Natural History Museum Sam Taylor welcomed the more than 200 guests after a roving dinner in the music hall foyer before they gathered to watch the Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre of New Zealand perform. New Zealanders Liz Hay and Mark Donovan of the Te Papa explained that New Zealand is leading the conservation efforts for the whales. Having a whale of a time with the conservation conversation were event chairs Ginny and Dick Simmons and co-chairs Linda and Bob Buzzelli and Leslie and Bob Nutting.

Mackenzie Carpenter's video program, "Omnivore," is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.