The Museum of Marine Flora and Fauna in Kerch is small. Its collection is located in only two halls. It is located on the Kerch embankment in the building of the Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography. Despite the small size of the museum, here you can see a very interesting collection of fish and other creatures that inhabit the oceans.
The Institute specializes in the study of the evolution of marine nature and living organisms. For several decades, the staff of the institute participated in expeditions, from where they brought interesting exhibits. The Institute paid special attention to the study of the ecosystem of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, which was formed since the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic era, that is, more than 150 million years ago. At that time, a significant part of the Caspian lowlands, including the Crimea and the Caucasus, were under the waters of the ancient Tethys Ocean. In the picture you can see the regions that were under water. Only the ridges of the Caucasus Mountains and the Crimean Mountains towered above the water.
During this era, volcanoes erupted on the territory of Crimea. The most powerful was the Karadag volcano. Now the entire territory that surrounds it has been declared a Karadag National Reserve. Also, small eruptions occurred in the area of Cape Fiolent.
These events, as well as the formation of the bottom sediments of the shell rock on the territory of modern Crimea, had a key impact on the formation of the flora and fauna of the Black Sea. The museum exhibits more than 3,500 exhibits of fish, amphibians, reptiles, mollusks and other living organisms.
Among the exhibits of the Museum of Marine Flora and Fauna there are outstanding exhibits: a three-meter sawfish, a Kamchatka crab with a claw span of 2 meters. Of particular value are the remains of fish and mammals more than 10 million years old, found in the Kerch Strait.
The value of the collection of the Museum of Marine Flora and Fauna is very high, however, there is catastrophically little space for the exhibition. The museum needs a new building where all the specimens can be placed not so crowded.
