Today I actually woke up to my alarm which was a welcome surprise. I then ate breakfast and was ready for the private bus at 8:45. The ride to the Delta Works was about an hour and a half and I slept most of the way.
As we pulled up to the museum, I noticed that the roof was covered in green grass. This is an attempt to increase sustainability, as there is space for flora to grow, reducing carbon emissions while also increasing biodiversity and providing a habitat for many animals as could be seen by the dozens of seagulls sitting on top. The delta works is a museum dedicated to the massive project that the Dutch government conducted between the 60’s and 80’s in an effort to reduce flood chances after the massive floods of 1953. The project consisted of 6 very large dike’s being built to completely cut off or reduce the flow of water from the North Sea into the delta’s of Zealand.
After arriving at the museum we were taken into a theater to watch a 30 minute movie telling us everything about the project. Here we learned about the biodiversity problems that were coming from completely damming up areas of the North Sea. This is because animals and other organisms were unable to travel the bodies of water due to the dams and without this biodiversity, ecosystems beyond the damns were beginning to die. As a result, Dutch biologists protested and forced the government to change their methods. Their new idea was to build dikes that had gates. These gates could be lowered to completely block the flow of water, protecting against flooding in case of a storm. However, they could stay open during low tides allowing for animals and water to pass through, protecting biodiversity in the deltas. We were then taken on a tour around the museum where we got to learn more about the dikes. Since their implementation, they have only been closed 32 times for a max of 6 hours. This goes to show just how effective they are at protecting the Netherlands from access flooding. Yet, notably the dikes will have to be built higher as the global water levels continue to rise, causing an even greater need for sustainability and a reduction in global warming.
After the tour we ate lunch, which was almost exactly what I had for breakfast. At around 1:30 we were given free time to explore the outside parts of the Delta Works including the “water park” and the aquarium. I found these really interesting inclusions in the Delta Works as they provide another incentive for consumers to come to the museum. Little kids have very short attention spans and can lose interest at museums quickly. Having the other forms of entertainment means that they would be more likely to attend the museum and learn about the Delta Works, while also having a good time. It was very effective as there were multiple schools of younger children who were at the museum with us.
We then got on a boat at 3 pm which went out onto the North Sea so that we could get a closer look at the Delta Works. I was a little let down by it as it was pretty short and we didn’t get great views of really anything. Also I couldn’t hear the informational voiceovers as there were a lot of people on the boat and it was pretty loud. At around 4 pm we were back on the bus ready to leave for Rotterdam again. It was rush hour so it took us almost 2 hours to get back to the hostel, but as I have all trip, I slept through most of it.