The Biggest Controversy in England Right Now Is Over a Fake Dinosaur

— -- LONDON -- Under the Victorian arches and intricately designed terracotta vault of London's Natural History Museum, the diplodocus lovingly known as Dippy has greeted the museum's more than five million visitors a year since it was first unveiled in 1979.

With its towering 356 bones, including the 70 vertebrae in its long tail, Dippy has enjoyed something of a cult following. But the museum now wants to move what has become one of the most iconic and beloved dinosaurs in the world away from its main entrance and replace it with a blue whale.

The decision has ignited a social media firestorm, causing an uproar among Dippy's fans, with one creating a twitter account aptly called "Save Dippy" with the description "Natural History Museum dinosaur looking for work. Forced into retirement at the young age of 150 million. Still have life left in me #SaveDippy." There is even an online petition circulating on the Internet asking people to sign up and help keep Dippy at the museum.

Peter Townsend, a disappointed and distraught Dippy lover explained to ABC News the significance of this dinosaur and why so many are up in arms about the decision. "As soon as you come here you’ve got Dippy, and every kid, you watch them all, they all stop, they all have their photograph taken. The Natural History Museum is Dippy -- that’s the first thing people remember, it’s a brand, why get rid of it?" he said.

"I am going to join any group that says keep Dippy," Townsend added. "I can see it. It will be a cause celebre in London."

The first time the fossilized bones of a Diplodocus were unearthed was in 1898 in Wyoming, and by order of King Edward VII, who saw a sketch, a replica cast was commissioned to be housed in the museum.

A real skeleton of a mammoth blue whale measuring 85 feet is set to replace Dippy and grace the main entrance to the Natural History Museum in 2017. The whale will be suspended from the roof, in a diving position, mouth open to greet visitors.

"We feel that we can communicate the science that we do here at the Natural History Museum much more effectively with the genuine skeleton of a blue whale rather than to use the skeleton of a dinosaur, which is a fantastic specimen," Richard Sabin, collection manager for vertebrates in the department of life sciences, told ABC News.

"Ultimately it’s a cast and there’s only so much you can do with a cast," Sabin added, acknowledging the shock waves reverberating around the United Kingdom. "Everybody feels some kind of connection with [the Natural History Museum] when they come here."

The museum wants to inspire the next generation of scientists, marine biologists and ecologists and feel they can achieve this with a blue whale, officials said.

But tell that to Townsend. "A whale?!" he said and then pretended to yawn, adding "Big deal. Penguin, yeah OK, but a whale? No!"

But there is a silver lining for Dippy fans. The museum is considering several plans for the dinosaur. Dippy will potentially go on tour around the U.K. and might even end up on the new grounds at the front of the museum.

"Dippy will still be around and very much a part of the museum," Sabin said.