Oceanographic Museum - Aliens and a very old Eel

Have the aliens finally landed in Monaco!

The Moon jellyfish is recognised by its fringed umbrella and reproductive organs in the shape of a four-leafed clover. It stings, but only slightly, and can grow to 40 centimetres. It's found on the Riviera coastline along with the more common Pelagia jellyfish.

If you click on the link, you can see a photo I took of thousands of these jellyfish, dead and washed up on the rocks at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin last June. The stink was awful.

The smaller photo - not as sharp as I'd have liked - but I want to show you the museum's oldest inhabitant, a brown moray eel who was caught off Antibes in 1968 when he was already adult size. Its precise age is unknown but he's at least 44 years old. Incredible, don't you think?

Oceanographic Museum - Silvery Lookdown

Just a day or so more at the Oceanographic Museum and we'll go somewhere else - but we'll be back. I photographed almost none of the art within the museum and wasn't happy with many of the fish photos - so another visit will be on the cards sometime in the future.

The top photo shows a Silvery Lookdown - they slide through the water like blades to catch their pray - and have such funny faces. This one reminds me of someone I know ...!

Look at the way the prawn - or is it a type of lobster - fits his little burrow.

And the last photo shows one of the nursery tanks. These are one of seven clownfish species in the aquarium, along with some black and white cardinal fish.

Some facts:

There are 90 tanks on exhibition. The capacity of the largest is 450,000 litres. The smallest holds 100 litres.

The temperature in the tropical area is 25 degrees and in the Mediterranean area, 15 - 22 degrees according to the season.

Duration of daily light: Tropical - 14 hours. Mediterranean - 12 hours.

Tomorrow, we meet the oldest inhabitant of the aquarium.

Oceanographic Museum - Harpoon

We've left the aquarium to walk up to the roof of the Oceanographic Museum - great views from here. This old harpoon looks ready for an unsuspecting whale ...

More fish tomorrow.

Oceanographic Museum - Colour and Corals

Aren't the colours and the corals wonderful! Today Monte Carlo Daily Photo welcomes guest photographer, Jean- François Deligeard.

Jean-François lives in Menton and had posted some of his fish photography, taken at the Oceanographic Museum, on the Facebook photography group to which we both belong - and so here he is!

Take a look at Jean-François' fascinating website - you'll see he's an experienced hiker, he runs marathons and he's a great photographer. What a guy! Thanks for sharing the photos, Jean-François.

Oceanographic Museum - the Tanks

The Aquarium is divided into several zones - the Mediterranean zone, the Atlantic Ocean, the Shark Lagoon (of which we saw a part yesterday) and the Tropical Zone.

Tanks vary in size, some with round windows, as above - others square, oblong ...

... and the live corals are absolutely stunning.

There are 6000 fish in the collection.

Oceanographic Museum - and Monte Carlo Daily Photo's 5th Birthday!

The Shark Lagoon is enormous! It contains 450 square meters of water with sharks, rays, groupers, jacks, moral eels and turtles, on a coral reef that teems with tropical fish and live corals. The presentation of live corals in such a space is a first. This tank can be viewed from four different angles. One panel alone is 5.90 metres high and 7.90 metres wide.

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Monte Carlo Daily Photo and Menton Daily Photo celebrate their 5th birthdays today - that's one photo (sometimes more) every single day for five years - twice! Not quite sure how it happened, but it did!

In fact, it all started with Eric Tenin's Paris Daily Photo and his vision for a world-wide City Daily Photo community of which today there are 1452 representing cities all over the world. I will be forever grateful to Eric for starting something that was to totally change my life and in ways I never could have imagined. Who knew I'd fall asleep at night reading books on photography!

According to Google, Monte Carlo Daily Photo has 13,000 visits a month (of which 7,500 are unique visits) and with 27,000 page views. You can see, with these monthly numbers, why I can't stop and indeed I don't want to! It's such a honour and a privilege to know so many people are enjoying the photos. A heartfelt thank you to my wonderful readers, for your loyalty, encouragement, kind emails and comments - without you, I think I'd have faltered long ago.

But along with the numbers have come friends - blogging friends, photography friends, people who come and visit and who I'd not have known but for the blogs. People who write me - we've never met - but are friends nonetheless. And one thing is particularly important to me, acceptance by the people of the amazing village where I live - Gorbio. Gorbio is 11 kilometres from Monaco. I adore this village, its traditions and its people who have so generously made me (a foreigner) welcome. They know me as the English woman, with the blogs - the one who always has a camera in her hand! I feel very much a part of this medieval hill village and I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me.

Please hop over to Menton Daily Photo for a photo of me, taken by the Mayor of Gorbio, smiling at you all and saying thanks so much.

Oceanographic Museum - Stuffed!

In this area of the Oceanographic Museum, you find stuffed fish, a polar bear, replicas of ships, a walrus, even a mermaid (albeit a mock-up!) and all in an environment resplendent with beautiful chandeliers. You'll also find some of the 450 decorated shells, part of the Ginestet collection acquired by the museum in 1992.

Tomorrow: the Fish! And Monte Carlo Daily Photo's 5th birthday!

Oceanographic Museum - the Ship's Laboratory

The Hall of Zoological Oceanography, renamed Salle Albert Ier in 2004, features a mock-up of one of three laboratories on the Hirondelle II.

The materials are taken directly to a laboratory on deck. After being sorted to eliminate useless residue, the materials for zoology are sent to the central laboratory, whilst those for oceanography go to a third laboratory.

The musuem houses tens of thousands of specimens and even today, researchers come to Monaco from all over the world.

Oceanographic Museum - Diving Bell

Isn't this the weirdest diving bell and costume?

Oceanographic Museum - Bones

There are a lot of skeletons in the Museum. I didn't note who this creature once was but I'd guess a giant turtle.

What do you think?

Oceanographic Museum - the 1901 Trawl

In 1888 Prince Albert I perfected a trihedrical trap which collected deep-sea organisms.

This was followed in 1901 by another biological sampling device, the trawl that you see in this photo. It enabled Prince Albert I to catch the first specimen of Grimaldichthys Profondissimus (a deep sea fish) in the South-West of the Cape Verde Islands, 6035 metres deep. This record remained unbroken for almost 50 years.

Oceanographic Museum - the Whale

In the west wing of the Museum, the Hall of Applied Oceanography, renamed the Whale Hall in 2004, displays a series of skeletons of marine mammals.

The emblem of this hall is the 20 metre skeleton of a fin whale (balaenoptera physalus).

Please click here to view thumbnails for all participants in CDP's theme: Animals

Oceanographic Museum - Huang Yong Ping's Giant Octopus

When Prince Albert I of Monaco created the Oceanographic Museum, he wanted to associate art with science and so throughout the building and on the facades outside, you'll find many incredible works of art.

One that really hits you in the face - and almost literally - is this sculpture of a giant octopus that measures 25 metres from tentacle to tentacle. It's the work of Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping - note one of the tentacles touching a plastic shoe, plastic bottles: the detritus of man on the ocean floor ...

You can read a full account of this work, the exhibition and see photos of the installation at CityOut Monaco. Thanks, Alex.

Below you'll find a video of the installation.

This exhibition - 'Méditerranée: Spelndide, Fragile, Vivant' - continues until the 21st March.

Oceanographic Museum - Prince Albert I of Monaco

The first thing that strikes you as you enter the Oceanographic Museum is that the building is going to be every bit as stunning as the fish - and it is.

This is the main entrance hall with a sculpture of Prince Albert I of Monaco (1848 - 1922), mariner and scientist and founder of the musuem.

As a young man, Prince Albert I served in the Spanish Navy, but during the Franco-Prussian War, he joined the French Navy where he was awarded the Legion of Honor. He was only 22 years old when he began to develop an interest in the then relatively new science of oceanography. After several years of study, Albert showed his ingenuity by devising a number of techniques and instruments used for measurement and exploration. Accompanied by some of the world's leading marine scientists, he recorded numerous oceanographic studies, maps and charts. He then founded what would become the world renowned Oceanographic Institute which is based here, at the museum, and in Paris. We'll learn more as we continue our visit.

The tentacles of the octupus are part of a exhibition - more another day.

Prince Albert I, (click to see him in the Saint Martin Gardens looking out to sea) is the great grandfather of the current ruler of Monaco, Albert II.

More tomorrow...

Oceanographic Museum - the Octopus

We are outside the main entrance of the Oceanographic Museum - we've bought our tickets and will soon walk up the steps...

But first... let's take a look at this 1981 sculpture by Emma de Sigaldi. It's called - no surprise - the Octopus.

Emma de Sigaldi was born in Germany in 1910. She trained and later performed as a classical dancer and then, in 1954, she married Monegasque Count de Sigaldi and from then on lived in the Principality. You'll find many sculptures by her in Monaco, including the famous 'Plongeur' that stands, arms outstretched and ready to dive, in front of the swimming pool on Port Hercule.

Emma de Sigaldi died in 2010, just before her 100th birthday.

Oceanographic Museum

These photos of the Oceanographic Museum on le rocher are by way of introduction to a series that starts on Monday.

Founded by Prince Albert 1, it was inaugurated in 1910. The building rises majestically from the sea to a height of 279 feet and took 11 years to build, using 100,000 tons of white limestone from La Turbie, a village high above Monte Carlo. It houses a fabulous museum of marine sciences.

We've a treat ahead so do come along for the ride.

Arman's Melodie

Can't you just hear the music! This sculpture - Melody by Arman - stands on le rocher just above Port Hercule.

Lunch at La Rose des Vents

Lunch in the sunshine on Larvotto - somewhat different to yesterday's restaurant...

Tripe and Steamed Spuds

It's not all caviar and champagne in Monaco...

How about tripe with steamed potatoes for 10 euros and all within a stone's throw of the Palace on le rocher?

The plastic, of course, allows outside eating even in winter.

Audrey's Toe

The shadow of this little girl caught my attention on Larvotto Beach but it wasn't until I got home and enlarged the photo that I realised I knew her and later learned that she wasn't playing but had badly hurt her big toe. She was hopping on one foot and in a lot of pain.

My new camera doesn't have a long zoom but is a full sensor camera and often I don't see the detail until the photo is on the screen and I enlarge it.

I hope you get better soon, dear Audrey.

A Jenson Button and Jessica Michibata sort of day...

Yesterday was a glorious day - t-shirt weather.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a mad Formula One fan and never miss a race. Jenson Button is my favourite driver. He drives for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes with intelligence, sensitivity - he's brilliant - and there he was, running towards and then past me. Too late for a shot so I turned around and clicked. Jenson is in the red t-shirt in the smaller photo.

A few minutes later Flavio Briatore (ex director of the Renault F1 team) walked past La Rose des Vents.

And 15 mintes afer that, Jenson's beautiful girlfriend Jessica Michibata came along, running in the opposite direction. That's her in the main photo.

And after that - to make it a real Grand Prix Sunday - I went to lunch with my friend Sue, who is married to Roy Salvadori - another F1 driver from what is now a bygone era. My interest in Forumula One started years ago when I became friends with Roy and Sue.

The Picture Frame

This picture frame/sculpture stands on le rocher, overlooking Port Hercule. People love to stand in the frame and have their photograph taken. Unfortunately if you look at it full on, there is a massive palm tree in the way but it's a rather lovely idea, don't you think?

The Changing of the Guard - 2

One last look at the Palace Guards as they hand over their duties. Then a quick turn and off they go to get into the white bus that awaits them.

I wouldn't mind a euro (or even a centime) for every tourist that has photographed this scene.

The Changing of the Guard

Each day at noon, you can watch the changing of the guard outside the Prince's Palace.

Today they are wearing their winter uniform. In summer, they sparkle in white.

And of course visitors line up to take photographs.