Precontinent II (Sudan)

Boat cruise inside the ring of coral that protects them from the waves

Boat cruise inside the ring of coral

The access to the interior ring of coral reef of Sha-ab Rumi

Precontinent II. What remains of the underwater village of Jacques Cousteau

The dome of the hyperbaric chamber which was the meeting room for the researchers

Precontinent II. The interior of the dome

Precontinent II. The interior of the dome

Precontinent II. The interior of the dome. A small table in iron welded to the dome wall and the air bubble generated by divers

Precontinent II. The interior of the dome and the air bubble generated by divers

Structure that contains tools and the underwater vehicle to movements the researchers

An aquarium glass used by researchers to study the fish in their natural environment

The anti-shark cage used during the project Precontinent II

The reef around the cage is full of sea fans

The reef around the cage is full of sea fans

The reef around the cage is full of sea fans

On what remains of aquariums (Precontinent II area), grow big soft corals

Outer reef of Sha-ab Rumi near the southern tip

Outer reef of Sha-ab Rumi near the southern tip

In small barrier caves, hiding fish of various kinds like this grouper with glass fish

A One-spot snapper (Lutjanus monostigma)

A Spot-fin porcupinefish (Diodon hyrstrix), is hiding in a rift

Arothron diadematus

The reef walls are covered with anemones with their inseparable clownfish

Sponge of Ircinia family with goldfish (Pseudanthias) present along the reef just a few meters below the water surface

A moray eel, took refuge under an umbrella coral

A turtle Chelonia while feeding on soft corals

Caranx ignobilis

Whitetip shark (Triaenodon obesus) on the southern tip reef

Whitetip shark (Triaenodon obesus). Southern tip reef

Whitetip shark (Triaenodon obesus). Southern tip reef

Spotted Grunt (Plectorhinchus gaterinus), common in the Red Sea

Barracuda

The book of Sudan Red Sea

The journey in Sha-ab Rumi

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By: Carlo Piccinelli

Shaa'ab Rumi on Google Maps.
Sha'ab Rumi is a small circular reef on the route to the north of Sudan. For its particular circular shape with a single entrance in the coral reef, has been the ideal place chosen from the french oceanographer Jaques Yves Cousteau to install (1963), an underwater village with included a dome and some pressurized chambers for researchers, biologists and naturalists that lived for one month at a depth of -15 m studying marine life and human behavior during the long stay under water. The researchs and technologies designed to experiment, gave the start to sport of the scuba diving. Today, little remains to be seen on the sandy plateau of Sha'ab Rumi if not the dome, the storage facilities where they had arranged scuba equipment and the aquariums where marine biologists studied the behavior of the fish in their natural environment. A journey into the history of diving.
Useful links for more informations:
www.albatrostopboat.com
www.felicidad.it