National Institute of Ecology: living corals and a warming sea — until 31 December 2026

The National Institute of Ecology opened 'Message from the Sea' in the Ecorium's ground-floor lobby on 5 May 2025: a small exhibition that shows a warming ocean through living organisms. The official exhibition page gives 31 December 2026 as the closing date, so about two months remain. Because it sits in the entrance lobby, it fits naturally into a walk through the Ecorium's climate-zone greenhouses.

What sets it apart is that it is not an aquarium of pretty fish. It walks through what happens when the water warms — which species move north, and why corals turn white and die — using live animals, panels and film in turn.

When and where is 'Message from the Sea'?

Both the institute's exhibition page and its list of current exhibitions give the dates as 5 May 2025 – 31 December 2026 and the venue as the Ecorium lobby, ground floor. The lobby is a shared space at the Ecorium entrance, but the official information does not say whether it can be seen without a ticket, so plan on buying the general admission ticket.

What is on show: living indicator species and eelgrass

The institute describes the exhibition as a special display meant to make people grasp how seriously climate change is threatening marine ecosystems — its own introduction says that people on land rarely feel the changes under the sea, even though they have reached a very serious stage.

The opening panel frames the visit as a message in a bottle sent by the sea. After it, the indicator-species tanks, the coastal-species photographs and the climate panels run along one side of the lobby.

The core of the show is living organisms, not photographs or models. The official introduction names four of them.

• Alveopora coral (거품돌산호) — a stony coral, shown as a climate-change indicator species
• Neon damselfish (파랑돔) — a fish, shown as a climate-change indicator species
• Caulerpa seaweed (옥덩굴) — a green alga, shown as a climate-change indicator species
• Eelgrass (거머리말) — a seagrass, in its own tank beside the coastal-species photographs

Because these are live animals and plants, some tanks may be off view on a given day depending on their condition. Bear that in mind if you are going for one particular species.

The ripple lighting on the ceiling makes the eelgrass tank feel like standing inside a seagrass meadow, and it is the best place for a photograph with children.

The wall opposite the tanks holds photographs of 11 species that live on Korea's coasts. The official introduction does not list them by name, so read the labels on site.

What do the panels and the film say?

The panels beside the tanks deal in turn with sea temperature, ocean currents and coral bleaching. The panel titles below are read from photographs the institute has published, so the layout on the day may differ.

A screen plays 'Boiling Sea' (끓는 바다), a documentary provided by the Korean broadcaster KBS about lives upended as climate change continues — it connects the figures on the panels to what happens to people. It is in Korean.

Admission, opening hours and what to check before you go

One admission ticket covers both the Ecorium's five climate-zone greenhouses and the lobby exhibition. If Seocheon is too far for now, the 360° VR tour on the official page shows how the room is laid out.

In short, if you are going to the National Institute of Ecology before the end of the year, this is worth a pause in the Ecorium lobby on the way in or out. Remember the three indicator species, and news stories about Korea's seas turning subtropical become much more concrete.

Getting there, and what to expect if you do not read Korean

The National Institute of Ecology is in Seocheon on the west coast, about five minutes' walk from Janghang Station on the Janghang line; trains from Yongsan in Seoul take roughly three hours, so most visitors make it a full day or an overnight. The exhibition is in the Ecorium, the large glasshouse building, at the ground-floor lobby by the entrance. Tickets are sold at the gate by card — foreign cards are normally accepted at Korean ticket desks, but carry a second card in case — and nothing needs to be booked in advance, so no Korean phone number or account is involved. The exhibition's own panels and the documentary are in Korean only; the Ecorium's general signage is bilingual. Allow extra time for the greenhouses, which most visitors combine with this display.