Mar del Plata Museum of the Sea

The Museum of the Sea, Mar del Plata

The Museum of the Sea is a museum of marine biology and aquarium in the seaside city of Mar del Plata, Argentina.

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 and oceanography 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, 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, a city far from the Atlantic Ocean, 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 and cultural objects, and the nacre 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, which provides an expansive view of the city and ocean, beyond.

Sea shells

Sea cave display

Aquarium

External links

• Museo del Mar (Spanish)

Coordinates: 38°00′40″S 57°32′09″W / 38.01111°S 57.53583°W / -38.01111; -57.53583