Kodiak Laboratory Seawater Facilities
The seawater laboratory complex is one of the most desirable features of the new Kodiak facility. The complex consists of a seawater system, large open laboratory, three cold rooms, a water quality laboratory, and a food preparation laboratory. The complex
is immediately adjacent to the shellfish laboratory and microscope room in order to facilitate examination of cultured or
experimental animals. The shellfish laboratory, the UAF instructional laboratory, and the downstairs display area are fed from the
complex’s seawater system. Improved knowledge of early life history is a particular focus
of the seawater laboratory and will serve both to improve stock assessment and evaluate the potential
for aquaculture or stock enhancement.
The seawater system starts with intakes and pumps. From the
pump house, raw seawater is pumped to the top of an obelisk-like tower
at the northeast end of the building. This tower is the highest
point in the building and gravity flow distributes seawater within the
building as necessary. Some of the water passes through sand
filters and some is left unfiltered. Filtered seawater is frequently
desirable for experimental purposes and in areas such as aquariums where
control of species composition and avoidance of fouling organisms is
essential. Unfiltered seawater is used where more natural systems are to
be duplicated and where it is desired to maintain filter feeders such as
clams or tunicates. All laboratories are supplied with one filtered and
two unfiltered seawater lines. Each unfiltered line is used for 2 weeks
and then allowed to become anoxic before being back-flushed with fresh
water and reconditioned with saltwater. This procedure is meant to
control fouling on the inside of the lines. Outflow is either
through floor drains or piped through an ozone contact system for
disinfection. The ozone system is critical for research involving
known, potentially epizootic pathogens that may be implicated in king,
Tanner, and snow crab population dynamics. All portions of the seawater
laboratory and the cold rooms are also served by freshwater for wash
down and low pressure air for oxygenation.
The general seawater laboratory and the three associated cold
rooms are designed to conduct experiments in a controlled
environment that are easily cross-correlated or verified through
observations and experiments conducted in adjacent bays or ocean areas.
The three cold rooms (each 150 sq ft) are intended to
provide strict temperature control for at least three levels in
experiments conducted in small to medium-sized containers. They
also offer obvious advantages relative to controlled photoperiod or
other variables where strict isolation is desirable. The
general seawater laboratory is intended for much larger experiments
where control is not as critical or where experiment-specific devices
are constructed to provide environmental controls. The laboratory has an
open design allowing for many tanks or experimental units to operate.
The seawater laboratory opens to the gear loft and then to the exterior
through large garage type doors and the entire area is fork lift
compatible. This feature allows even large tanks to be manipulated and
is especially intended to allow experimental animals to be transported
from shipboard to the laboratory in large containers. Currently experiments are designed to augment underwater
observations that have been carried out by divers, using ROVs (remote
operated vehicles), sled-mounted cameras, or submarines.
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