Nausicaá, National sea centre, is a scientific cultural centre that promotes awareness of the bond between Mankind and the Ocean.
For over 30 years, Nausicaá has delighted the general public with a fascinating insight into the marine environment and the incredible biodiversity that lies within it. Visitors can marvel at the beauty of the marine world, learn all about environmental issues and, above all, learn to love and protect the Ocean.
The crew at Nausicaá join forces with their partners to expand our knowledge of marine species and play an active role in their conservation.
We believe that we can only protect what we love, and our love for the Ocean is what guides all our actions.
In a society that is losing touch with nature and where biodiversity is on the decline, we are putting the ocean back at the heart of people’s lives. Because we all have a special bond with the Ocean, because we care passionately about it and know that it is the essential foundation of all life on Earth, our purpose is to bring out the Ocean in all of us.
In 33 years, Nausicaá has hosted more than 20 million visitors, including 5 million schoolchildren. Together with them, Nausicaá has created a new generation O as in Ocean: a community that is taking a stand for the planet because it has understood that a healthy Ocean is the solution to our environmental challenges.
Nausicaá is an aquarium with a mission. Backed by its 220 employees, it is committed to preserving the Ocean, both in Boulogne-sur-Mer and across the rest of the world, by raising public awareness of the need for better ocean management, the need to preserve biodiversity and the need to innovate for the benefit of the blue planet.
With 58,000 animals representing 1,600 different species in an exhibition area of 10,000 m², Nausicaá gives visitors the opportunity to marvel at what the Ocean has to offer.
This unforgettable experience is a journey of discovery, entertainment and encounters, along a tour that embraces the most innovative technologies to create wonder, education and enlightenment.
It is part of the Centre's public service mission to welcome school audiences. Through its partnership with the French Ministry of Education, Nausicaá provides teachers and their pupils with a constantly updated educational offer adapted to each school level, from nursery school to university.
This educational and awareness-raising mission was rewarded by UNESCO in 1999 with the title of Centre of Excellence for Marine Environmental Education.
HERE AND THERE
Preserving biodiversity lies at the heart of Nausicaá's mission and it is involved in many European conservation programmes aimed at preserving endangered species. In addition, there are several hundred births at the aquarium every year, reflecting the expertise of the aquariological team in caring for the animals and their well-being each and every day.
Beyond its walls, Nausicaá is involved in numerous projects aimed at conserving animal species on location in collaboration with associations working in the field.
In 2018, the Nausicaá Endowment Fund was created to help finance these actions and to take action as close as possible to threatened species in their natural habitat.
At European and international level, Nausicaá strives to ensure that the Ocean is factored into the commitments and decisions made: participation in international events such as the Climate and Biodiversity COPs and negotiations on the law of the high seas. Every 8 June, Nausicaá celebrates the ocean by organising activities and events around World Ocean Day to raise public awareness of the need to preserve the marine environment.
Nausicaá is also the partner of many European projects with an educational, scientific and citizen mobilisation focus.
Providing support for blue innovation is part of Nausicaá's proactive response to the environmental challenges that we are facing. By creating the Blue Living Lab in 2019, an incubator for projects for a blue economy, Nausicaá is placing innovation at the service of this cause and fostering the growth of startups that innovate with and for the oceans.
Nausicaá is also invested in a sustainable seafood consumption programme, called Mr.Goodfish, which was launched in 2010. This programme is part of an approach to managing ocean resources sustainably by involving all the stakeholders in the sector, from fishermen to consumers.
As the second most visited site north of Paris, Nausicaá is a major tourist attraction in the Hauts-de-France region, attracting visitors from all over the world.
Job creation, economic impact on the Boulogne-sur-Mer area: Nausicaá makes ambitious CSR commitments, it is boosting the local economy and encouraging visitors to discover other tourist attractions in the region.
What Nausicaá offers goes well beyond the simple aquarium. This is evidenced by an architecture, scenography and sound design that are alternately fascinating, confusing and unique in the service of the living and the messages of Nausicaá.