Oceanographic Museum of Monaco explained

Oceanographic Museum of Monaco
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Established:1910
Location:Le Rocher, Monaco
Type:Oceanographic museum, Historic site
Website:www.oceano.mc

The Oceanographic Museum (Musée océanographique) is a museum of marine sciences in Monaco-Ville, Monaco.This building is part of the Institut océanographique, which is committed to sharing its knowledge of the oceans.[1]

History

The Oceanographic Museum was inaugurated in 1910 by Monaco's modernist reformer Prince Albert I,[2] who invited to the celebrations not just high officials and celebrities but also the world-leading oceanographers of the day to develop the concept of a future Mediterranean Commission dedicated to oceanography, now called Mediterranean Science Commission. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was director from 1957 to 1988. The Museum celebrated its centenary in March 2010, after extensive renovations.

Overview

The museum is home to exhibitions and collections of various species of sea fauna (starfish, seahorses, turtles, jellyfish, crabs, lobsters, rays, sharks, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, eels, cuttlefish etc.). The museum's holdings also include a great variety of sea related objects, including model ships, sea animal skeletons, tools, weapons etc., as well as a collection of material culture and ritual objects made from, or integrating materials such as pearls, molluscs and nacre.[3] [4]

At the first floor, A Sailor’s Career showcases the work of Prince Albert I. It includes the laboratory from L’Hirondelle, the first of Prince Albert's research yachts. Observations made there led to an understanding of the phenomenon of anaphylaxis, for which Dr Charles Richet received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1913.[3]

An aquarium in the basement of the museum presents a wide array of flora and fauna. Four thousand species of fish and over 200 families of invertebrates can be seen. The aquarium also features a presentation of Mediterranean and tropical marine ecosystems.

Numerous artists display their artworks in the museum, such as Damien Hirst and Philippe Pasqua.[5]

Architecture

This monumental example of highly charged Baroque Revival architecture has an impressive façade above the sea, towering over the sheer cliff face to a height of 279 feet (85.04 m). It took eleven years to build, using 100,000 tons of stone from La Turbie. During construction, the names of twenty well-known oceanographic research vessels personally selected by Prince Albert I were inscribed into the frieze of the museum's façade.[6]

Oceanographic research vessels inscribed on façade

CountryVesselImageYear LaunchedExpeditionInscription[7]
SMS Gazelle18591874–76[8] GAZELLE
HMS Investigator18011801–03INVESTIGATOR
SMS Novara1850Novara Expedition (1857–59)NOVARA
Vitiaz18621870–741883–85VITIAZ
RV Belgica1884Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897–99)BELGICA
Talisman1883[9] TALISMAN
SS Valdivia1886Valdivia Expedition (1898–99)VALDIVIA
Washington1881[10] WASHINGTON
SS Vega18721878–79VEGA
Fram1892Nansen's Fram expedition (1893–96)Sverdrup's Canadian Arctic islands expedition (1898–1902)

Amundsen's South Pole expedition (1910–12)

FRAM
Princess Alice[11] PRINCESS ALICE
HirondelleHIRONDELLE
SMS Pola (1890–93)POLA
USC&GS George S. Blake18741874–1904BLAKE
HMS Challenger1858Challenger expedition (1872–76)CHALLENGER
HNLMS SibogaSiboga expedition (1899–1900)SIBOGA
Buccaneer[12] BUCCANEER
SS Amélia ,, III, IV1896, 1897, 1899, 1901–1910AMELIA
Ingolf1895–96INGOLF
USS Albatross18821883–97, 1899–1916, 1919–21ALBATROSS

Caulerpa taxifolia

In 1989, a French marine biologist discovered a patch of a giant, tropical seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia directly under the walls of the museum. The actual source and extent of this exotic introduction remain a matter of controversy.[13]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Oceanographic Institute, Foundation Albert I, Prince of Monaco. Monaco Blue Initiative. 2 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20170610131349/http://www.monacoblueinitiative.org/en/organizers/oceanographic-institute-foundation-albert-i-prince-of-monaco/. 10 June 2017. dead.
  2. Book: Waldman. Carl. Mason. Catherine. Encyclopedia of European Peoples. 2006. Infobase Publishing. 978-1-4381-2918-1. 529.
  3. Web site: The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. https://web.archive.org/web/20120424110940/http://www.aslo.org/nice2009/museum.html. 24 April 2012. dead. 6 May 2013.
  4. Book: Art de la nacre, coquillages sacrés. Rapport de recherche sur la provenance et l'authenticité d'une collection du Musée Océanographique. Mourad, Bariaa . P.-Fromm, Gérald A. . Carpine, Christian. Monaco: Musée Océanographique . 1992.
  5. News: fr. De Santis . Sophie . Philippe Pasqua, "Borderline". . 15 May 2017 . 2017-05-25.
  6. Cotter. Charles H.. Dean. J. R.. December 1966. Down to the Sea: A Century of Oceanography. The Geographical Journal. 132. 4. 560. 10.2307/1792593. 0016-7398. 1792593.
  7. Book: Kofoid, Charles A.. The biological stations of Europe. 1910. G.P.O. 7310523.
  8. Web site: Some Early German Contributions to Oceanography. hydro-international.com. 2018-12-18.
  9. December 1883. The "Talisman" Expedition . Nature. 29. 739. 197–198. 10.1038/029197a0. 1883Natur..29..197. . 0028-0836. free.
  10. Book: Moraitou-Apostolopoulou, Maria. Mediterranean Marine Ecosystems. 2013. Springer. 9781489922489. 1076260370.
  11. Web site: The Career of a Navigator . Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. www.oceano.mc. 2018-12-18.
  12. Carpine-Lancre. Jacqueline. McConnell. Anita. January 2011. Prince Albert and J. Y. Buchanan: Mediterranean investigations. History of Oceanography. International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. 22. 29.
  13. News: Nick . Davidson . 2003-04-01. PBS and BBC . Transcript of "Deep Sea Invasion". 2010-05-10 .