"Treasures of the deep Atlantic" an exhibition unveiling the wonders of the deep-sea around Madeira (NE Atantic Ocean)

2011 Freitas et al., «Treasures of the deep Atlantic» 29 Bol. Mus. Mun. Funchal, 61 (331): 29-39, 2011 ISSN 0870-3876 «TREASURES OF THE DEEP ATLANTIC» AN EXHIBITION UNVEILING THE WONDERS OF THE DEEP-SEA AROUND MADEIRA (NE ATLANTIC OCEAN)* BY MAFALDA FREITAS 1, SÉRGIO CASTRO 1, FILIPE HENRIQUES 1, GONÇALO SILVA 1, JOSÉ A. GONZÁLEZ 2 & MANUEL BISCOITO 1, 3 With 10 figures and 1 table ABSTRACT. In the present paper the authors give an account on a didactic activity never done before in Madeira, aiming to unveil the main aspects of the deep Atlantic Ocean, including research done in Madeira and the main threats to this particular ecosystem. This activity was presented as a multimedia exhibition that was shown at all the municipalities of the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo and was attended by more than 226,000 people. RESUMO. No presente trabalho é dada a conhecer uma atividade didática inédita na Madeira, que visou dar a conhecer ao grande público as principais características do mar profundo, na área do Oceano Atlântico, incluindo a investigação que se realiza na Madeira e as principais ameaças que impendem sobre este ecossistema. Esta atividade assumiu a forma de uma exposição multimédia itinerante, que percorreu todos os concelhos da Região Autónoma da Madeira e que foi vista por mais do que 226.000 pessoas. 1 Estação de Biologia Marinha do Funchal, Cais do Carvão, Promenade da Orla Marítima do Funchal, 9000-107 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. E-mail: [email protected]t 2 Instituto Canario de Ciencias Marinas, Ctra. de Taliarte s/n, 35214 Telde, Gran Canaria, España. 3 Museu de História Natural do Funchal, Rua da Mouraria, 31, 9004-546 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. * Contribution no. 19 of the Marine Biology Station of Funchal. 30 Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal (História Natural) No. LXI, Art. 331 INTRODUCTION In the framework of the PESCPROF programme (Deep-sea resources of the eastern central Atlantic), three research projects were carried out between 2003 and 2008 with the principal goal of exploring the deep-sea biodiversity off the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands between 250 m and 2,500 m, and finding new alternative fishery resources. In this context, a multimedia exhibition entitled «Treasures of the deep Atlantic» was built in order to explain, not only the deep-sea and some of its characteristics, but also to unveil the scientific results of these projects targeted for the public in general. Besides revealing the mysteries of the deep ocean, this exhibition also showed alternative or complementary fishery resources studied in the course of the PESCPROF programme, providing information towards a responsible and sustainable exploration of these project series. Several other initiatives were also developed in order to publicize the PESCPROF programme and to educate the public. They included an Internet Web Page (www.pescprof. org), posters, leaflets and didactic games for students of different school levels. The social impact of this exhibition is presented herein. MATERIAL AND METHODS The multimedia exhibition «Treasures of the deep Atlantic» was prepared so as to be easily transported and mounted. It is made of 8 large panels. In order to stimulate children and adults’ curiosity, the information on the panels is shown at two different levels, the lower one a cartoon, is dedicated to the young users and the higher, more elaborate, dedicated to elder people. In addition to the static panels, several multimedia/interactive elements were used, i.e. a plankton microscopic observation point, a weighing scale that associates body weight with pressure/depth, the James Cameron’s film “Aliens of the Deep” (Walt Disney Pictures), a slide show with photographs taken during the research activities and illustrating the deep-sea biodiversity of this area, and finally the bottom and semi-floating selective traps used for the fishery of the deep-sea red crab and the striped soldier shrimp, respectively. Aimed at the under 11 age group, a small performance, “The Treasures’ Trunk”, was created. In a funny way, children learned about the main adaptations of deep sea organisms which allow them to live in such an extreme environment. The exhibition was always accompanied by two monitors, whose main task was to take the various visitors on guided tours, adapted to different educational backgrounds. Profiting from excellent facilities available in the archipelago, the exhibition was exhibited in all municipalities of Madeira and Porto Santo (Fig. 1), from June 2007 until November 2008. At each location the exhibition stayed for periods ranging from 1 to 2 weeks. 2011 Freitas et al., «Treasures of the deep Atlantic» 31 The exhibition was located at the following venues: major local schools, shopping centres, culture halls and hotels (4 and 5 stars). In order to evaluate the impact and interest of this exhibition on local populations and tourists, as well to assess the overall type of visitor, a written inquiry was carried out (Annex 1). The visitors were randomly selected and they filled out a questionnaire on location. For the purpose of the present analyses, the levels of education of visitors were divided as follows: College: Level 1, children 6 to 9 years old; Level 2, 10 to 11 years old; Level 3, 12 to 14 years old; High School; University degree; Other: outside the routine teaching system. Fig. 1 - Map of Madeira and Porto Santo showing the places where the exhibition was presented indicating the number of visitors. RESULTS Attendance In total, the exhibition was seen by 226,227 persons in the 11 municipalities of Madeira and Porto Santo (Fig. 1). The highest number of visitors (76%) was in Funchal, the capital city of Madeira. 32 Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal (História Natural) No. LXI, Art. 331 The highest rate of attendance was in shopping centre (93,5%). In contrast in those premises the number of guided tours was lowest (0.4%) (Table 1). Culture halls and schools held the highest number of students in guided tours (98%). The educational level of attendants (Fig. 2) was as follows: 35% had a university degree, 30% a high school degree, and 32% were still at college in levels 1 to 3. TABLE 1 - Category of places where the exhibition was displayed with total number of visitors and number of visitors in guided tours. Fig. 2 - Educational level of the persons who have seen the exhibition. No. of displays Visitors Visitors in guided tours Schools 5 1965 (0,9%) 1965 (44,5%) Shopping Centre 3 211452 (93,5%) 18 (0,4%) Culture Halls 20 12347 (5,5%) 2359 (53,4%) Hotels 4 463 (0,2%) 78 (1,8%) Total 32 226227 4420 University degree 35% High school 30% Level 3 16% Level 2 10% Level 1 6% Others 3% 2011 Freitas et al., «Treasures of the deep Atlantic» 33 Satisfaction A total of 532 questionnaires were completed satisfactory, 381 by adults and 151 by individuals under eighteen. Females made up 54% of the sample. According to the inquiries, visitors became aware of the exhibition in the following major ways: recommended by other visitors (33.8%) and other (flyers, posters, outdoor advertisement, etc.) (44.1%) (Fig. 3). Fig. 3 - Sources of information visitors have used to become aware of the exhibition. Within questioned about the theme of the exhibition, 66% of visitors answered that it was very interesting and 30% that it was interesting. Only one visitor considered it of no interest (Fig. 4). Fig. 4 - Opinion of visitors about the contents of the exhibition. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 7% 6% 34% 5% 4% 44% Very interesting 65% Interesting 30% Normal 5% Not interesting 0,2 % 34 Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal (História Natural) No. LXI, Art. 331 Regarding the amount of text read by visitors (Fig. 5), most of the people read more than half (49%) of the text written in the panels. Fig. 5 - Amount of text read by attendants. Of the multimedia and interactive elements present in the exhibition, the movie, the plankton microscopic observation and the weighing scale were the most popular (30.5%, 23.3% and 20.5%, respectively) (Fig. 6). Fig. 6 - Interest on the multimedia and interactive elements of the exhibition. Whilst planning the exhibition, the question as to whom it should be aimed at, was recurrent. It was therefore judged important to hear public opinion on this issue and to ascertain if the exhibition was aimed at the right public. 79% of the inquired visitors expressed the opinion that the exhibition was for all kind of audiences (Fig. 7). More than half 49% Half 30% Less than half 20% None 1% 0,0% 5,0% 10,0% 15,0% 20,0% 25,0% 30,0% 35,0% Plankton observa�on Weighing scale Movie Slide show Fish traps 23,3% 20,5% 30,5% 13,2% 12,6% 2011 Freitas et al., «Treasures of the deep Atlantic» 35 Fig. 7 - Opinion of visitors about the target audience. Of those questioned, 96% regarded the PESCPROF programme as very interesting or interesting (Fig. 8). Fig. 8 - Opinion of visitors about the PESCPROF programme. When asked if before seeing the exhibition they knew any of the three deep-sea species dealt with specifically in the programme, the black scabbardfish, Aphanopus carbo and A. intermedius, the deep-sea red crab, Chaceon affinis, and the striped soldier shrimp, Plesionika edwardsii, 94% of the visitors choose the black scabbardfish (Fig. 9). 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Children Adolescents Adults All 7% 8% 6% 79% Very interes�ng 57% Interes�ng 37% Indifferent 4% Not interes�ng 2% 36 Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal (História Natural) No. LXI, Art. 331 Fig. 9 - Previous knowledge about the three target deep-sea species: black scabbardfish, deep-sea red crab and striped soldier shrimp in Madeira Island. When visitors were questioned about their opinion as to the importance of the PESCPROF projects to the local society and economic development, 96% said the projects were very important (Fig. 10). Fig. 10 - Opinion of attendants about the importance of PESCPROF projects to the local society and economic development. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Black scabbard fish Deep-sea red crab Striped soldier shrimp None 94% 30% 41% 3% Very important 96% Not important 4% 2011 Freitas et al., «Treasures of the deep Atlantic» 37 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Taking into account that in 2009 the population of the archipelago of Madeira was estimated at 247,399 (DRE, 2010), the attendance of the exhibition (over 226,000) was extremely satisfactory. This of course was mainly due to the fact that the exhibition took place in the two most popular shopping centres of the two main urban areas of Madeira (Funchal and Caniço). The average education level of the visitors was high, with 65% having a high school degree or higher. This figure is clearly higher than the estimated for the whole population of Madeira (28%) (CIES, 2010), meaning that this type of initiatives tend to attract people with higher education. Person-to-person recommendation and the distribution of flyers, posters and others in public places revealed high publicity efficacy. During the time the exhibition was in place, social networking in the Internet was not yet used as it is now, which may explain such a low penetration (4%). More than half of the visitors found the exhibition very interesting and overall 95% was pleased with it. This means that the exhibition design was adequate for the target public. This conclusion is further reinforced by the results of the question relating to the amount of text read. In this case, 69% of the visitors declared that they had read half or more of the texts from the panels in the exhibition. Not surprisingly, amongst the multimedia/interactive elements on exhibition, the movie was the most popular, followed closely by the plankton observation point and the weighing scale. The high quality and the theme of David Cameron’s movie make it an insurmountable attraction. However, the plankton observation attendance proves that people are also attracted by the unknown and the weighing scale exerts the natural curiosity of people for knowing their body weight, thus justifying 20.5% preference. The exhibition “Treasures of the Deep Atlantic Ocean” was designed for a general audience and in this respect it hit the target. 79% of the questioned visitors considered it very suitable for a general public. Taking into account the level of education of the questioned visitors, it is not surprising that 94% considered the PESCPROF programme as “interesting” or “very interesting” and that 96% considered it very important for the local society and economic development. The black scabbardfish being a very popular fish in Madeira and one of the exlibris of Madeira’s cuisine, it was not a surprise that 94% of the people questioned already knew of it. This figure is much lower for the deep-sea red crab and the striped soldier shrimp, which can be justified because these two species have started being publicized only since the beginning of the programme. This may also indicate that the visitors had already some knowledge about the deep-sea fauna of Madeira, which is again in accordance with the average education level.