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CITE DE LA MER
Gare Maritime Transatlantique 50100 CHERBOURG-OCTEVILLE
Tel. : +33 2 33 20 26 69
Fax : +33 2 33 20 26 27
Email : info@citedelamer.com
Site : http://www.citedelamer.com/
At the Cité de la Mer
Dedicated to human deepsea exploration, the Cité de la Mer is proof that science really can be fun. Since it was opened in April 2002, it has attracted more than 1.7 million visitors. The permanent displays and multimedia exhibits vividly evoke the great undersea adventure, taking visitors on a thrilling journey beneath the waves.
The gradual three-hour descent into the deep ocean chasm explores two major themes:
- Submarines, with guided tours of the Redoutable, the world’s largest submarine open to the public;
- Oceans, focusing on the exploration and exploitation of marine resources, centred around one of Europe’s deepest aquariums (10.7 m) and 17 smaller themed aquariums.
Since 2008, visitors have had an opportunity to become the heroes of an extraordinary hour-long voyage into the ocean depths, as part of a brand-new attraction entitled “Walking into the Depths”. After donning all the necessary equipment and following a short practice session inside Hadale 31, Captain Glass’s underwater base, the new explorers embark on a fantastic odyssey through the dark abysses, coming across fabulous undersea oases and amazing creatures along the way… At one with the elements, they are both the spectators and the protagonists of this undersea adventure.
Until September 30th 2009, the Cité de la Mer is staging a temporary exhibition (no additional admission charge) on “Life in the Great Depths”. Curated by the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer), it features nearly forty captioned photos of species discovered by Ifremer scientists in the course of oceanographic expeditions conducted on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific and Southern East Pacific Rises since the 1980s. The one thing that all these extraordinary animals have in common is that they inhabit a dark and hostile environment, where the pressure can be up to 500,000 times greater than it is at the surface! So how have they managed to adapt? What is the role of the undersea oases? And what methods have we humans developed to locate and observe them?
To find out opening times and admission charges, log onto the www.citedelamer.com Website
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