The Museum of the Sea is a museum of marine biology

Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...

 and aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 in the seaside city of Mar del Plata

Mar del Plata

Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

Overview

A gift box containing fifteen seashells, and delivered to 18-year-old Benjamín Sisterna from his brother in 1932, created a lifelong fascination with sea shells

Sea Shells

Sea Shells is a 1957 album by Peggy Lee, recorded in early 1955.The album was possibly thought by her record company to be too esoteric, hence its later release. It was her last recording for Decca Records. The album is considered one of Miss Lee's more personal records, featuring a mix of love...

 and oceanography

Oceanography

Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...

 in the young man. Twenty-six trips around the world in sixty years resulted in a personal collection of over 30,000 shells, fossils and marine invertebrates

Marine invertebrates

Marine invertebrates are animals that inhabit a marine environment and are invertebrates, lacking a vertebral column. In order to protect themselves, they may have evolved a shell or a hard exoskeleton, but this is not always the case....

, among other items.

Sisterna's death in 1995 left the collection to his heirs, who began work on the Museo del Mar, The Museum of the Sea, in Mar del Plata; born in Santa Fe, Argentina

Santa Fe, Argentina

Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...

, a city far from the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, Sisterna had lived in seaside mar del Plata for the last 40 years of his life.

Inaugurated on September 22, 2000, the museum is divided into four levels:

• The ground floor includes the lobby, which features a map of the world tracing Sisterna's exploratory travels. The gift shop, Benjamin Sisterna Auditorium and the Gloria Maris Café (so named for the hill on which the museum was built) lead from the lobby, and are surrounded by aquaria and glass cabinets.

• A lower level houses geological displays, and is laid out in a hall reproducing a submerged cave. The cave features a central pond inhabited by smaller marine organisms, and is connected with the ground-floor aquaria.

• The second floor is divided into two areas, including one exhibiting contemporary art
  Contemporary art
  Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
  
   and cultural objects, and the nacre
  Nacre
  Nacre , also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks as an inner shell layer; it is also what makes up pearls. It is very strong, resilient, and iridescent....
  
   and seashell collection hall, where exhibits are displayed and labeled in glass cabinets.

• The third floor features a photographic gallery of Sisterna's travels and of oceanography generally, as well as a vantage point towards the lower the floors designed to visually integrate the aforementioned displays. The hall leads to a children's activities section, a meteorological station and an observation deck
  Observation deck
  __FORCETOC__ An observation deck, observation platform or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure such as a skyscraper or observation tower...
  
  , which provides an expansive view of the city and ocean, beyond.

External links

• Museo del Mar