Tidal Zone

A child looking at fish through the underwater windows at National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

Descend below sea level in the Tidal Zone and glimpse an underwater view of Falmouth Harbour through two large windows.

If you stand here long enough, you’ll see the tide rise and fall. You never know what you’ll find swimming through the water or climbing along the other side of the glass. Take a close look and you might spot a cormorant diving after a fish, crabs, shrimps, and maybe even a seal.

Here, you can learn about the effects of the moon and sun on the tides, and how they are caused. Interactive displays also introduce some of the animals and plants that live in the estuary, which is a Special Conservation Area, home to a wide diversity of species.

Featured Tidal Zone Installations

Experience powerful installations that confront the issue of marine plastic pollution and its impact on our oceans and coastal communities.

‘Whale in the Room’ by Andre Kong Studio

‘Whale in the Room’ is a striking installation featuring 380 kilograms of marine debris retrieved from Cornish waters by Clean Ocean Sailing. This suspended sculpture represents the amount of plastic waste entering our oceans every single second, equating to 12 million tonnes annually. Rhythmically flashing lights act as a metronome, marking the alarming pace of plastic pollution entering our seas.

Originally commissioned by Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange for the Storm Warning exhibition in 2024, this work brings urgent environmental concerns into dialogue with its unique coastal setting in our Tidal Zone.

About the Artist: Andre Kong is an award-winning architect and artist whose practice focuses on creating structures using reclaimed materials. Clean Ocean Sailing, based in Gweek, Cornwall, use restored sailing vessels to collect waste from coastal areas around Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Bottle Top Chain by Cornwall Climate Care

Part of a remarkable chain created from over 65,000 bottle tops collected by volunteers from Cornish beaches, the original chain stretched over one kilometre long. With over 35 million plastic bottles thrown away daily in the UK, and only a minority recycled, this installation highlights the scale of unnecessary waste.

Acknowledgments: Created by Claire Wallerstein with thanks to beach cleaning groups across Cornwall who remove hundreds of tonnes of harmful marine litter from our coasts annually, and to Jed and Ann Lewis, Rame Peninsula Beach Care, for installation support.