Falling into the Abyss (Temporarily)

Among the sadder pieces of news to hit my inbox recently is a short post on the SLED forum from Hajime Nishimura (Yan Lauria in SL) that the Abyss Observatory will gone from SL for awhile.  For those of you who’ve never been there, the Abyss Observatory is an interactive educational region focusing on earth sciences with an emphasis on oceanography.  It will no longer be sponsored by NOAA, but is moving to sponsorship by a Japanese research university.  The transition hit a road bump due to the earthquake in Japan earlier this month, so plans are being made to backup the exhibits before the anticipated closure of the current sim on April 1.


I explored the Abyss pretty thoroughly last summer and was very impressed, but I went over today to take a last look at the current version and take some photos for you.  When it gets back online the Abyss is not to be missed.  In addition to giving visitors a great look at deep sea marine science and underwater exploration, it also has some fabulous exhibits on the physics of wind and meteorology.

Meteorology Exhibit Photos by Yan Lauria

Unfortunately it seems that the simulated deep sea dive part of the exhibit has been taken off line since last summer.  I can only hope they put it back when they get their new sponsorship because it was one of the best immersive simulations (and I’m not at all sorry about that double entendré) I’ve ever found in SL.

The Abyss Observatory folks promise to be back in SL with their excellent exhibits as soon as they can, and I’ll post the SLURL for you when it’s back up and running.  But if you are curious about what you are missing, check out their website at: http://chikyu-to-umi.com/abyss/index.htm.  And while you are at the website, don’t miss the part of it that gives links to related earth sciences exhibits in: http://chikyu-to-umi.com/abyss/abyss_link.htm.  Let's hope the Abyss Observatory is back in SL very soon.