Hydrographic Institute in the Interpretative Center of the Cannon of Nazareth

On May 30, 2015, the inauguration of the Interpretative Centre of the Cannon of Nazareth was held at the Fort of S. Miguel Archangel, in Nazareth with the presence of the Mayor of Nazaré (CMN), Dr. Walter Chicharro, the Director General of the Hydrographic Institute (IH), Rear Admiral José Luís Branco Seabra de Melo and the Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage (DGPC), Dr. João Carlos dos Santos, among other distinguished guests.

In his address, the Director-General of the Hydrographic Institute, thanked the Mayor for this initiative, “including science, research and culture in the Roadmap to Nazareth”, adding that “these challenges make us even better, in the transmission of research and knowledge work carried out by the Institute to the population”.

The Mayor highlighted the work that the IH has been doing in improving the knowledge of this phenomenon that enabled the projection and expansion of the sea economy, particularly with the MONICAN project, which monitors, in real time, all the dynamics caused by the cannon and thanked the Captain of the Port of Nazareth, Fragrateful Captain Jorge Gorricha, for applying the safety standards and procedures for the daring of surfers who seek extreme situations of local ripple, which are today an international reference.

The IH exhibition is visible in one of the rooms of the Fort and allows visitors to know the work done by the Hydrographic Institute on the Cannon of Nazareth and the new studies that will be developed in this context.

Note: The Nazaré Cannon is the largest underwater cannon on the Portuguese mainland and one of the largest on the European margin. Such a structure necessarily affects the various oceanographic processes that take place off the Portuguese west coast, promoting important impacts on the coastal zone, on the currents of the continental shelf or on marine ecosystems.