Exhibition Overview

A new traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution, opened in Washington, D.C. on April 22, 1995 and will be touring to other museums nationally 1996-1999

A World Worth Our Attention

After centuries of seafaring, we're only now beginning to plumb the workings of our watery planet. The deeper we go, the clearer it becomes that no matter who we are or where we live, we all have a hand--and a stake--in what happens in the seas.

The difficulties of diving into complete darkness, frigid water, and extremely high pressures hobbled exploration in the past. But new sophisticated submersibles and precise remote sensing have revolutionized oceanography. Researchers are discovering exciting fundamental facts about the oceans and the teeming life the seas support.

With this knowledge has come recognition that even landlubbers take much from the sea. Often unwittingly, we are imperiling the oceans. More than three-quarters of coastal ocean pollution originates on land. Unhealthy oceans hold hidden dangers for everyone.

This exhibition reminds us that in ways we may never have even considered, we're all seafarers, and it offers us ways to become more seaworthy--to think about what everyone can do to conserve the Ocean Planet.

A Totally Immersing Experience

Over 99 percent of living space on earth is ocean, all habitable by plants and animals. Marine life is astounding in its diversity. In 1986, biologists identified the thirty-third major group, or phylum, of animals--loriciferans, microscopic creatures that live between sand grains. The seascape is equally intriguing: the longest sea-floor mountain range is more than four times as long as the Andes, Rockies, and Himalayas combined. The exhibition opens by immersing visitors in the remote reaches of the ocean planet:

An animated "fly-by" takes visitors from a point in space above North America to soar over the Pacific, then to dive near Hawaii and "fly" underwater past Japan, through the Mariana Trench, to resurface near New Guinea.

An intricate, visually arresting sculpture represents the oceans' biodiversity with an unusual or beautiful example of each phylum of plants and animals, and several distinctive phyla of marine fungi, blue-green algae, and bacteria.

Photo panels with newspaper-style headlines and copy spotlight recent advances and late-breaking news (e.g., satellite studies recently revealed Earth's largest concentration of active volcanoes ).

A life-size model of the pilot's sphere of the Johnson Sea Link captures the excitement of diving in a submersible to see Bahamas deep-sea dwellers at close range--an experience that few people will ever have in real life.

A shipboard lab setting focuses on ocean research and satellite monitoring, and points out how ocean currents profoundly affect us.

Seafarers' Stories

Listening to seafarers reveals common themes: maritime communities feel a strong sense of unity; they integrate their traditions with current technology and information; and their work is extremely risky, both financially and physically. Decisions about ocean conservation will need to address their social and economic concerns.

We're all sea people, in the sense that our lives or livelihoods take us to the beach or sea. The exhibition introduces visitors to other sea people:

A sea-album video presents the range of people whose lives and livelihoods take them to sea, tourists on a beach, oil-rig workers, scientists collecting specimens, merchant marines, fishermen, etc., with related quotes, music, poetry, and conversation.

Objects and photos describe customs of sharing the catch, and the roles of men and women among many cultures (Inupiat whalers, San Diego tuna fishers, Maine lobstermen, Micronesian clans who control fishing areas, African women fish dealers, etc.).

Fishing boats, traps, hooks, paddles, and nets from around the world show the integration of traditional experience and modern methods.

Charms, amulets, and protective totems used in many fishing societies (from American statues of saints to wooden carvings from Africa and the Pacific) testify to the dangers fishermen face.

Unless you eat seafood everyday, you might not necessarily think that you depend on sea "services" daily. Ocean plants, animals, minerals, and seawater itself provide a staggering list of essential products. To help recognize them, the exhibition invites visitors to browse in the sea store:

Sea shoppers can choose from many departments:
• seafood
• pharmacy (drugs, surgical aids, traditional remedies, medical research)
• sea products (clothing and accessories, cosmetics, food,beverages, household goods)
• power tools (energy sources from the sea)
• recreation and tourism
• shipping
• inspiration
• service center (water, carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen cycles)

"Product information labels," with bar codes that can be read by hand-held bar-code readers, identify many likely and not so likely sea products.

A seafood counter with signs about the natural history of fish we eat.

A check-out counter tallies the global bill for sea items used locally everyday by everyone.

Beyond their obvious beauty, marine habitats such as coral reefs, mangrove forests, kelp forests, estuaries, the polar ecosystems, and the deep sea furnish far-reaching support for human endeavors. The exhibition sounds a wake-up call about world-wide threats with panoramic color photomurals of marine habitats. Signals Ahead

While oil spills and beach trash regularly make the evening news, other warning signs aren't as easy to name. It's clear that overfishing and dumping raw sewage cause problems; it's not as immediately apparent that automobile exhaust and pesticide-laden water from fields far away are equally troublesome. To help visitors navigate the shoals, life-sized models of buoys mark the course through oceans in peril:

For each hazard, a buoy explains the threat, illustrates its effects, and outlines current responses, using graphics, objects, and hands-on activities.

Buoy 1 covers oil pollution (oil spills are not the largest source), toxic chemicals and metals, and garbage, especially plastics.

Buoy 2 examines coastal-water problems: agricultural run-off, air pollution, sewage, and "alien species" (non-local species released in ships' ballast water).

Buoy 3 investigates tampering with watersheds and coastal areas: mining and ocean dumping, tourism, inland deforestation, and dammed rivers.

Buoy 4 reports on overfishing, habitat-destroying fishing (with cyanide and dynamite), and by-catch (non-target animals such as turtles trapped in shrimp nets).

Buoy 5 summarizes global warming, sea-level rises, ozone depletion, and coastal development and population growth.

The dangers to the ocean planet are dire, but it's not too late! Taking small measures in our daily routines can vastly improve the oceans' outlook. The exhibition closes with opportunities for reflections:

Profiles of ocean conservationists, from kids' groups cleaning up beaches, to scientists, to international-treaty negotiators, and give each exhibition venue the opportunity to honor local heroes.

A sculpture of the Ocean Planet designed to encourage reflection on the exhibition's messages complements panels answering "What can you do?"

At the exit, visitors can answer "What will you do?" by leaving a message in a bottle. Messages will be collected in notebooks for other people to read--a call to action for the Ocean Planet.

Ocean Planet
Environmental Awareness Program
Smithsonian Institution
IC3123, MRC 705
Washington, DC 20560

Ocean Planet Home Page

gene carl feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428
Judith Gradwohl, Smithsonian Institution (Curator/Ocean Planet)