Natural History Museum Announces Coral Reef Exhibition
If you love coral reefs, make a space in your diary next year to visit the new 'Secret Cities of the Sea' coral reef exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. Opening on March 27th 2015 in association with the Caitlin Seaview Survey, the exhibition will explore the wealth and diversity of coral reefs, while highlighting their vulnerability.
Dr Ken Johnson of the Natural History Museum commented, ‘Coral reefs are not simply beautiful environments. They provide food, income and storm protection for many millions of people around the world. The Museum has an exceptional collection of corals from ancient and modern reefs that we have been studying, to understand how these animals, and the diverse habitats they create, have responded to changes in the ocean.
The exhibition will contain more than 200 specimens from the Museum’s vast collections. Displays will include specimens collected by Darwin on the HMS Beagle expedition from 1831 to 1836, giant washing machine-sized Turbinaria coral, and some of the strange and spectacular creatures that call the reefs home, from venomous blue-ringed octopus to tiny sponge crabs.
The Caitlin Seaview Survey aims to document reefs around the globe, creating a baseline record of the world’s coral reefs in high-resolution 360-degree panoramic vision. They have visited 19 countries so far including Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Bahamas and the Galapagos.
