A closer look at the world of eternal darkness
Basel Zoo opens new exhibition about the deep sea
17 January 2019/Basel, Kiel. The deep sea is the largest habitat on the planet: just 29 percent of the world’s surface is land, with the remainder covered by water. From 19 January, Basel Zoo will be presenting deep-sea species in cooperation with GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. The exhibition gives anyone thirsty for knowledge the opportunity to explore a world that is usually out of our reach. Basel Zoo’s deep sea exhibition offers curious visitors an insight into this largely unexplored world, where darkness reigns eternal and creatures have to contend with sparse food supplies and extreme pressures of up to a ton per square centimetre.
In a dark space designed to recreate the ocean environment, visitors will dive into the world of the deep sea. Zoo Director Olivier Pagan is proud of the new exhibition: ‘We are delighted to be able to offer this unique insight into the depths and delight the public with this fascinating alien environment.’ The exhibition was made possible by a collaboration between Basel Zoo and the GEOMAR, that has made Dr Johannes Kinzer’s deep sea collection available to Basel Zoo as part of this joint project.
Dr Gerd Hoffmann Wieck of GEOMAR says: ‘The deep sea exhibition makes this collaboration between GEOMAR and Basel Zoo visible to the public. We look forward to further consolidating this partnership in the future.’
Background information:
The exhibits come from Dr Johannes Kinzer’s collection. The marine biologist and former aquarium director at the Kiel Institute for Marine Science (IFM) collected these deep-sea fish on numerous expeditions to the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans in the 1960s and 1970s.
‘The Deep Sea – Huge, Inaccessible, Dark and Diverse’ exhibition opening times:
At weekends from 19 January between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
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