“Ocean Planet” at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Abstract

Exhibit Review “OCEAN PLANET” AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION HELEN M. ROZWADOWSKI “Ocean Planet,” a commemoration ofthe twenty-fifth anniversary of Earth Day, culminates a four-year study of the health of the world’s oceans with an exploration of the human relationship to the seas.1 Starting from the observation that the home we call earth is truly an ocean planet, this frankly activist exhibit both celebrates and warns, showing how our lives depend on the oceans and how, in turn, our actions affect them. Judith Gradwohl, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Environmental Awareness Program and curator of the exhibit, constructed “Ocean Planet” with a conserva­ tion focus and an emphasis on science. But “Ocean Planet” explores not only scientific dimensions of the oceans but their economic, so­ cial, literary, political, and cultural dimensions as well. The exhibit successfully deploys an array of media—sculpture, interactive exhib­ its, computer animation, videos, dioramas, artifacts, specimens, and photographs, as well as a notable landmark for museum watchers, the Smithsonian’s first virtual exhibit on the World Wide Web (fig. 1) —to convince museum-goers young and old that we all have a stake in what happens to the oceans. The exhibit begins by immersion in the colors and movement of the world underwater. Sounds of waves, birds, wind, and whales ac­ company visitors through an entrance tunnel, until they emerge at a gallery to be greeted by a clear plastic mobile of marine creaDr . Rozwadowski completed a dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania tided “Fathoming the Ocean: Discovery and Exploration of the Deep Sea, 1840-1880” in 1996. Her interest in virtual exhibits derives in part from her work for Discovery Channel On-line. '“Ocean Planet” opened April 22, 1995, and closedJanuary 2, 1996. It will travel to eleven U.S. cities between 1996 and 2000 and is online on the World Wide Web at http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html. See the web site for up-to-date scheduling information.© 1996 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/96/3702-0005$01.00 330 “Ocean Planet” at the Smithsonian Institution 331 In ways we may never have even imagined, we’re all seafarers After thousands of years of seafaring, we’re only beginning to fathom 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 oceans. Click on different parts of the band above to listen to the sounds of the sea. Ocean Planet Exhibition Floorplan Gene Carl Feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428 Judith Gradwohl, Smithsonian Institution (Curator/Ocean. Planer) Fig. 1.—“Immersion” page from “Ocean Planet” Online, the Smithsonian Insti­ tution’s virtual exhibit on the World Wide Web. (Web page images courtesy ofGene Feldman, NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center.) tures. Colorful lighted photographs around the base depict these animals in their habitats. The variety and profusion of oceanic life are themes that begin here and continue throughout the exhibit, along with the refrain that much remains to be discovered. Two particularly memorable artifacts in this “Ocean Science” gal­ lery highlight physical and biological oceanography. Most spectacu­ lar is a box of athletic shoes, the yield of a natural experiment in which 60,000 Nike shoes, accidentally spilled from a freighter and recovered along the northern coasts of the Pacific rim, allowed scien­ tists to study ocean currents. And a full-sized model of the Johnson Sea Link submersible serves as the focal point for a video and wall 332 Helen M. Rozwadowski display communicating the wonder and delicacy of deep-sea life through the reenactment of one scientific dive. Here, however, the exhibit misses an opportunity to examine the role of technology in the exploration of the deep-sea environment. From the first deepsea sounding experiments early in the 19th century, ocean science has been characterized by the interdependence of technological in­ novation and scientific discovery. An animated flyby developed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists crowns the “Ocean Science” gal­ lery. It...