A heritage of humanity, the ocean covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface. But while it fascinates us, do we really know it?

For its 2nd edition, the Festival Grand Océan invites everyone, young and old to discover, reflect, participate and act in the preservation of marine biodiversity.

With conferences & debates with experts, fun & immersive activities, Grand Océan invites you to join us on September 29-30 at La Cité de La Mer in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and on October 1, 2023 at Omonville-la-Rogue for a unique 72-hour dive to discover the seabed.

Some forty top scientists and historians (CNRS, Ifremer, Mercator Ocean International, CNES, ESA, NASA, NOAA, Museum, Sorbonne Université, Université de Toulouse, marine biology stations and marine parks, foreign laboratories… ), sailors (navigators, admirals…), explorers and ocean lovers (François Sarano, Guillaume Nehry), and  from major companies (Naval Group, EDF…) will be taking part, to share their expertise with the general public, including secondary school students. Everyone will be able to appreciate the major importance of the ocean, not only for the Cotentin and Manche regions and the people of Normandy, but also for France as a whole, in metropolitan France and the overseas territories. After all, France has the world’s second largest maritime domain.

On 30 September, Pierre-Yves Le Traon, Scientific Director of Mercator Ocean International, Thierry Lafon and Matthias Raynal from the SWOT project at CNES will talk about the Sentinel satellites of the European Copernicus program and the SWOT satellite, to help us better understand, monitor and thus protect the oceans and marine ecosystems.