Reconstructed skeleton of extinct Dokdo sea lion goes on display in Seoul
A full-scale skeletal reconstruction of the extinct Dokdo sea lion on display at Seoul Station / Courtesy of Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries
A full-scale reconstruction of an extinct Dokdo sea lion’s skeleton went on public view at Seoul Station, Monday, offering a rare look at the physical structure of a marine mammal wiped out by overhunting in the 20th century.
The assembly relies on 41 authentic bone fragments recovered in 2020, with 3D-printed replicas filling in the missing pieces.
The exhibition is located on the second-floor concourse of Seoul Station, where it will run through Oct. 25. Jointly organized by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea, the display showcases how modern digital modeling can recreate lost biological specimens for public education.
The Dokdo sea lion once inhabited coastal regions across Korea, Japan and Russia, with Ulleung Island and Dokdo serving as its primary habitat and breeding grounds. However, intensive commercial hunting during the early 20th century rapidly depleted its numbers. In 1994, the International Union for Conservation of Nature officially declared the species extinct.
To construct the life-sized frame, researchers utilized 41 bone pieces recovered from Gaejae Cave on Ulleung Island in September 2020. Specialists performed computed tomography scans and 3D modeling on the surviving fragments before using 3D printing to replicate the missing elements. To complete areas where no physical bones remained, researchers analyzed anatomical data from the California sea lion, a closely related species within the same Zalophus genus.
The completed skeletal assembly is displayed alongside video documentation outlining the recovery of the remains and the step-by-step digital engineering process. Following its showcase at Seoul Station, the reconstructed frame will be transferred to the SeaQrium exhibition space at the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea in Seocheon, where it will feature in a special exhibition from November through August next year.
“I hope that the skeletal reconstruction of the extinct Dokdo sea lion serves as an opportunity to reflect on the preciousness and value of our marine biological resources,” said Yoo Eun-won, director-general for marine policy at the oceans ministry. “We will continue to implement various policies for the systematic management and conservation of our marine biological resources going forward.”
For commuters at Seoul Station this week, the reconstructed frame offers a strictly physical record of the vanished species — an engineered assembly of bone and resin that documents the consequences of past overhunting.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.