Magical dive 20,000 leagues under the sea. (Credit: Federic Pacorel/Monaco Oceanographic Institute)
The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco is returning to its roots. After a period focusing on the earth's poles, the institute is setting its sights on what is literally at its feet: the Mediterranean Sea.The Mediterranean, a true cradle of civilizations, is an extremely rich environment and a biodiversity hotspot. Although its area covers less than 1 percent of the world's oceans, it hosts 17,000 marine species, or 7.5 percent of the world's marine fauna and 18 percent of the world's marine flora.More importantly, 19 percent of the species inhabiting it are endemic, meaning unique to the Mediterranean, such as the posidonia which forms real sea meadows, the Nice cup sponge, the Mediterranean gorgonian head, or the deep crab.But this exceptional biodiversity is in danger. Exploitation, population growth, pollution, and climate change exert...
The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco is returning to its roots. After a period focusing on the earth's poles, the institute is setting its sights on what is literally at its feet: the Mediterranean Sea.The Mediterranean, a true cradle of civilizations, is an extremely rich environment and a biodiversity hotspot. Although its area covers less than 1 percent of the world's oceans, it hosts 17,000 marine species, or 7.5 percent of the world's marine fauna and 18 percent of the world's marine flora.More importantly, 19 percent of the species inhabiting it are endemic, meaning unique to the Mediterranean, such as the posidonia which forms real sea meadows, the Nice cup sponge, the Mediterranean gorgonian head, or the deep crab.But this exceptional biodiversity is in danger. Exploitation, population growth, pollution, and climate change exert...