The Covid-19 global health crisis has hit hard on the cultural sector. Many museums and cultural institutions around the world, both large and small, public and private, have been forced to close down temporarily and are, as a result, experiencing financial hardship.

In the face of this crisis that has suspended so much of the world’s action, we have however also witnessed the redeeming quality of culture: it is resilient.

Many museums and cultural institutions have quickly adapted to the current situation by creating virtual access to their exhibits, and to remain engaged with their public. New content has also been produced, ranging from virtual tours to podcasts, and many cultural institutions have seized the occasion to share more content and reach a wider audience online or through social networks.

Many museums showcasing underwater cultural heritage have responded to the crisis in this kind. Although virtual tours had already previously existed in the form of visits to certain submerged sites, the Covid-crisis has accelerated and expanded the development of such access.

Virtual tours, videos as well as interactive tours of museums specializing in underwater cultural heritage have been created, thus inviting a larger audience to experience and learn about the secrets of our oceans, rivers and lakes while staying safe at home.

See links to some of the underwater cultural heritage museums:

Virtual Underwater Cultural Heritage Museums

• Bermudas 100 project, Bermudas
• Kyrenia Shipwreck, Cyprus
• Pavlopetri Project, Greece
• Tantura Shipwreck, Israel
• Virtual Open-Air Museum of Wrecks in the Gulf of Gdańsk, Poland
• 3D Reconstruction of the HMS Anne, United Kingdom
• Scapa Flow Historic Wreck Site, United Kingdom
• German Destroyer V82 3D, United Kingdom
• Thunder Bay 3D shipwrecks tour, United States
• The Thistlegorm Project, Egypt
• Virtual Dive on the Wreck of the Melckmeyt (1659), Iceland
• The Gnalic Shipwreck Site, Croatia
• Forgotten Wrecks of WWI
• Vrouw Maria, Finland
• Virtual Tour of the RMS Titanic
• Virtual Dive Trails of Protected Wreck Sites, Uk
• Virtual Visit of the Underwater Archaeology Museum Fuerte de San José El Alto, Campeche, Mexico