Under fragile seas
From January 14 to March 29, 2026, the MHNC-UP will host Pedro Ponces Camanho's photographic exhibition Under Fragile Seas at the Hall of Biodiversity - Ciência Viva Center.
This exhibition will present a selection of 25 photographs representing the animal biodiversity of the oceans, taken from the larger collection that makes up the book of the same name, published in 2024 by Arte e Ciência.
The exhibition will open on January 14, 2026 at 18h00.
About the work
Pedro Camanho refers to the zoologist Edward O. Wilson, whose writing I have been demanding from my students to read for decades. A profound thinker on human reality beyond the scope of science, he recovered the concept of "consilience”, introduced by Englishman William Whewell to describe the informal process by which scientists become convinced of the reality of a new phenomenon or scientific principle. Wilson effected a semantic transformation by using this term to signify a unified theory of knowledge encompassing all disciplines – from physics and biology to the social sciences and humanities. This active scientific vision should lead us to the awareness that so many and so prodigiously beautiful marine species are in danger of disappearing if we do not stop polluting the seas. We have no excuse to remain insensitively passive. We urgently need to save the sea if we want to save the earth.
Onésimo Teotónio Almeida, Preface of the book Under fragile seas (Arte e Ciência, 2024)
About the author
Pedro Ponces Camanho is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, an Integrated Researcher at the Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transport and Aerospace, and a Collaborating Researcher at the Centre for Research in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources. He holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London, was a Visiting Researcher at NASA – Langley Research Centre and Visiting Professor at Brown University, Cambridge University and ENS-Cachan. He is a Corresponding Member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, a Full Member of the Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He received the Scientific Excellence Award from the University of Porto (2020), the Medal of the Académie de l'Air et de l'Espace (2024) and the NASA Reid Award (2006).
