The first week of work has
been amazing thus far; I can’t imagine a more beautiful place or inspiring
research facility to spend the next 6 months at. The center is located on Charlesworth Bay,
with a secluded beach directly out the back door. Being so close to the beach
allows for a unique system in which the building has fresh, local and
sterilized sea water on tap in all the labs, aquaculture areas and the aquarium,
opposed to trucking it in or creating it like other facilities. The system has a main pipe running several
meters into the ocean where the initial filtering take places as the water
flows through gravel and fine sediment before entering the pipe, the force of
the changing tides channels the water through the pipe into an underground well
where the level is determined by the tide.
The water is then additionally filtered and pumped to storage tanks at a
higher elevation than the center, so gravity can be utilized to channel it into
the building where it runs through a UV light for sterilization before coming
out of taps in the building. The local
sterilized sea water is the only way to accurately replicate the pH, salinity
and natural conditions for the organisms in the labs, aquarium and aquaculture facilities. Additionally is prevents the spread of
disease which can be a result of foreign sea water being trucked in or poor sterilization. This water is a key aspect in sustaining the
health of the aquarium, aquaculture and research tanks.
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