Scuba Experience in the Explorocean Pool
Oceanic supply all of the SCUBA equipment
used in the Aquarium
Members of Oceanic Staff outside the
Atlantic Tank on a visit to the Aquarium
The National Marine Aquarium is now firmly established as a source of reliable and accurate information and is a regular adviser to many newspaper, magazine, radio and television projects - the BBC's 'Blue Planet' Series is perhaps the best known.
With the world's oceans facing ever more threats from our activities it is important to understand the vast stretches of water that cover 70% of our planet. We exploit them for mineral, power and food - we take but we give little back, we treat the sea as a huge treasure chest that will always provide.
We dump our waste from homes, industry and agriculture, and pollute the waters directly or via the rivers that feed the oceans. We regard the seas as a huge carpet under which we can sweep our unwanted rubbish - out of sight, out of mind
With fishing stocks dwindling at an alarming rate, marine life becoming increasingly rare, pollution increasingly common and climate changing globally, there has never been a time when an understanding of the oceans, how they work and how we should manage them, is so critical to the survival of life on this planet.
The exhibits at the National Marine Aquarium are set up with this in mind and we strive to improve what you can see and add to what you can learn. Each year a special exhibition is mounted, concentrating on some aspect of the aquatic environment. We have ventured into the 'World of Sharks', revealed the 'Jewels of Plymouth Sound' and delved into the world of 'Water Life'. We have recently opened a 'View Behind the Scenes - Window on Conservation' and plan an interactive investigation into the 'Life of Whales'
It is often said that
we know more about the moon than we do about the deep seas on our own
planet and that we shall manage to get a man to walk on mars before we
get one set foot on the bed of the abyss. Even the shallow seas around
our own shores are off limits to most of us - the seas might as well be
an alien world populated by bizarre and strange life forms!
Because they are difficult to get into and even more difficult to
understand the seas are often overlooked and then abused by humans the
world over. But they are our very lifeblood - they control our climate
and shape the land; they have made world exploration and colonisation
possible; they provide us with minerals and power.
Above all they are the source of all of our water and much of the
world's food supply - without the oceans humans would cease to exist.
But we take them for granted. On the one hand we take from the treasure
chest with no thought for how much and for how long we can exploit the
seas before we leave them empty.
On the other hand we continue to expect the seas to act as a huge carpet
under which we sweep our unwanted rubbish. Sewage, chemicals from
agriculture and industry, radioactive waste and a host of other junk
from the human race all end up in the sea - out of sight out of mind.
True the oceans can swallow much without ill effect and true they can
support us with food and power but we need to know how much they can
take and when we should stop. The National Marine Aquarium is the
CHARITY solely concerned with spreading the message of ocean
sustainability through entertaining programmes of education and
exhibits, and carrying out research with a view to handing healthy
oceans on to the next generation.