Visitors are led along by Kirsten and Thomas, who take them on a journey to the depths of the oceans.

Discoveries in the beams from the headlights

How does it feel to make your way down 4,000 meters into the ocean in a submersible, and what, if anything, can we see there? A 10-minute fictional dive in the OZEANEUM’s Exploration and Exploitation of the Seas exhibit answers these questions and invites visitors to go on their own journey of discovery down towards the seabed. A round, darkened room is modeled on the cramped situation encountered on a submersible, and five monitors serve as windows out to the deep sea. A porthole in the ceiling of the room shows visitors how the sunlight on the surface of the sea slowly fades away as they descend into the darkness of the ocean.

Passing schools of herring, porpoises, and seals, the journey passes through the cold-water corals in the North Atlantic down to the black smokers on the sea bed. Bizarre creatures like the chimera or the luminous comb jellies glowing in the darkness can be discerned in the beam of the headlights. Original footage like this is often only accessible to scientists. By cooperating with the scientific institutes of the German Marine Research Consortium, the museum has managed to make this footage available to a wider audience for the very first time. Fictitious scientists Kirsten and Thomas accompany visitors during their dive, becoming “guides” for visitors through their conversations with one another. The constant radio contact with the base on the imaginary research vessel on the surface again creates the impression that you are actually sitting in a submersible.