Tall and slender bamboo corals swaying with the "waves", fan corals with branches like fans, "black chimneys" that provide life sources for underwater creatures... Today, the mainland's first deep-sea themed comprehensive original exhibition "Deep Sea Garden" jointly created by Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and Tongji University opened at the Shanghai Museum of Natural History. The exhibition recreates the world's largest restoration of a cold-water coral forest, with dozens of rare specimens from kilometers deep into the sea meeting viewers for the first time. It is reported that the exhibition will last until February 28 next year.
How can there be a "garden" in the deep sea?
Walking into the exhibition hall, when you stroll through the dark Yongdao and listen to the sound of water in your ears, you can't help but think of the deep-sea exploration scene described by Wang Pinxian, a marine geologist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "After diving 200 meters below sea level, there are no fingers around, only relying on the light emitted by the deep submersible to move forward, everything is unknown." ”
How can the deep sea and the garden, two things that are incompatible, be connected? Wang Pinxian said: "This is a Chinese romance, and there is also a scientific basis behind it. "It turns out that "deep-water coral forests" have many similarities with terrestrial forests: bamboo corals are several meters tall, and sometimes have branches that fork, equivalent to trees in the woods; Fan corals that are no more than a few tens of centimeters tall, equivalent to shrubs; dwarf corals, bryozoans, glass sponges, etc., similar to herbaceous plants on land; There are also soft corals such as sea gills, which can be fixed in sediment and densely distributed, like rice fields on land.
In the eyes of Chinese, this scene of strange rocks, branches and leaves, and bamboo shadows is not a garden picture? Therefore, when determining the name of the exhibition, Wang Pin first locked the "deep-sea garden" as soon as possible. However, don't think that the coral swaying on the stone is also a plant, and the bottom of the sea is a dark world without sunlight, and plants cannot survive here.
Wang Pin first advocated that Shanghai should develop "Shanghai science popularization", and he said that the "Deep Sea Garden" exhibition is a typical exploration of "Shanghai science popularization". "Garden is China's traditional culture, marine science and technology need continuous innovation, 'Shanghai science popularization' is to combine the two to spread and develop." He explained.
Sharing the "Exclusive Beauty" of Scientists with the Public
"I guess this is the first time in the world that deep-sea corals have been shown up close like this, because these are the results of scientific research that we have only discovered in recent years." Wang Pin first said that human understanding of the seabed is quite limited, so far the resolution of the seabed topography is only 1/10 of Mars, although deep-sea corals have been found for more than 200 years, but few people have seen their true appearance.
A bamboo coral in this exhibition was first discovered by chance by Wang Pin in 2018 under the Ganquan Sea Terrace. That time, they originally planned to see the cold spring fauna, but as soon as they dived into the deep sea, Wang Pin was attracted by the coral group. They used the manipulator of the "Deep Sea Warrior" to collect a 5-meter-long bamboo coral stick, but unfortunately the coral broke off during the collection process, and many creatures on the coral did not bring it.
The more than 30 cold-water coral specimens of 5 families on display are all hard-won, most of which were collected by Chinese scientists in the South China Sea aboard the Deep Sea Warrior in 2020, of which 23 cold-water coral specimens were met with the audience for the first time. In addition to corals, there are also deep-sea submersible shrimp, shellfish and carbonate rocks collected by the research ships "Sun" and "Ocean IV" and the unmanned deep submersible ROV "Science" from the cold spring area of the South China Sea.
"This exhibition is really not easy to do." Zhang Yunfei, deputy director of the Natural History Research Center of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, lamented that only one hydra, an important structure of coral polyps enlarged by 3D printing, took a lot of effort from the team. The weird appearance, complex structure, and "unpopular" selection of topics made the curatorial team feel pressured. However, Zhang Yunfei said that they hope to cooperate with more scientists, use the science and technology museum as a stage for them to publish their latest results, and let the beauty that was originally only "exclusive" to scientists be shared with more public.
The Deep Sea Pavilion will be another "Pearl of the Orient"
Wang Pinxian, an 86-year-old "deep-sea warrior", has a dream in his heart: to build a deep-sea pavilion in Shanghai and plan the "Deep Sea Garden" exhibition to explore the way for this dream.
What is the Deep Sea Pavilion in Wang Pinxian's heart? He shared the plan in his heart in spirit: the "Deep Sea Pavilion" should include three parts, one is marine scientific knowledge, including seawater flow, seabed structure, etc.; The second is oceanic technology, including deep drilling, deep diving, deep net, etc.; The third is humanities and arts related to the ocean. "If the Deep Sea Pavilion can be built, it will be another 'Oriental Pearl' in Shanghai."
Why does Shanghai need a deep-sea pavilion? Wang Pinxian said that Chinese civilization used to be ahead of the world for a long time, but in the 16th century, the rise of marine civilization made us lag behind and be beaten for a while. The establishment of the Deep Sea Pavilion can cultivate young people's marine awareness and vision. At the same time, the ocean is a spiritual spirit, and not only those who study marine-related majors can study the ocean, but all walks of life can generate tentacles that resonate with the ocean.
The idea was endorsed by Wang Xiaoming, director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. He said that Shanghai faces the sea, and deep-sea science and technology are at the leading level in the mainland, so he can plan this popular science venue in a timely manner and contribute to the construction of a maritime power.
Author: Shen Xiangsha
Image: Yuan Jing