Kenya to open underwater museum
2012-07-27 15:43
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Africa's very first underwater museum may be open by 2014, Wanderlust reports.
Set to be located on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, the 'underwater museum' will be part of the Malindi Marine National Park. It will focus on marine life, such as sea turtles, manta rays, whale sharks and dolphins, and shipwrecks, of which there are around 35 in the area spread over Lamu, Mombasa, Malindi, Watamu and the south coast.
A few shipwrecks in Fort Jesus and near Nyali have been identified so far as the first attraction sites.
The museum will also study the relationship between the marine life and the shipwrecks, which attract fish feeding on mico-organisms on the wood of the ships. Vessels from Portugal, Britain, Germany and India dot the seabeds around the Kenyan coastline, relics of the Indian Ocean coast's trade links with the Far East.
The human remains from the shipwrecks will also be archived in the museum records. The project's current goal is to assess just how many wrecks there are in the area and their current condition and stability.
