Marine artefacts on loan to Munster for a year
Two large marine artefacts from the Stralsunder Nautineum are on their
way to Munster where they will go on exhibition for a year.
Starting
their 550km journey via heavy transport last Thursday, the underwater
station “BAH I” and the Shark Observer Vehicle “SOV1” are scheduled to
be showcased in a special exhibition entitled “Wasser bewegt – Erde
Mensch Natur” (literally “Moving Water – Earth’s Nature”), which will
open on September 30th at the Museum of Natural History.
Expressing his delight at being able to increase the exposure of their
artefacts to more people, Michael Mäuslein, curator of the Marine
Research Technology at the German Maritime [Oceanographic] Museum also
hoped that there would be synergy generated for the Nautineum, where
visitors can still view more large artefacts of marine research.
The
Nautineum is open until the end of October, from 10am to 4pm. Admission
is free.
First German underwater station “BAH I”
The first German underwater station “BAH I” was built by the company
Babcock and started operations in 1968. At that time, venturing to
depths of 20 metres was considered uncharted territory and explorers
who did so put their lives in danger.
Although “BAH I” was used only
once in the open seas, it yielded valuable information for the larger
underwater laboratory Helgoland (currently housed at the Nautineum).
In
2003, “BAH I” was adopted as a technical monument by the Clausthal
University of Technology, then was moved to the Nautineum on the island
of Little Dänholm later in the year.
Dimensions of “BAH I”: Length: approx 6 metres. Width: 4 metres. Height: 4.8 metres. Weight: 20 tonnes.
Submersible “SOVI” (Shark Observer Vehicle)
Normally housed in the hall for marine research technology in the
Nautineum, the Shark Observer Vehicle (“SOVI”) has been on permanent
loan from the international shark conservation organisation
SHARKPROJECT since 2012.
Before this,
between 2006 and 2007, it was used in collaboration by scientists from
SHARKPROJECT in South Africa to observe and film the behaviour of great
white sharks, in a bid to gather data as a basis for their protection.
Dimensions of “SOVI”: Length: approx 4.3 metres. Height: 1.55 metres. Weight: 700 kg.
See here for more information
Mares
17th August 2016
