Aquarium

The BAS marine aquarium is housed within the Controlled Environment Facility (CEF) on the BAS Cambridge site.

Marine animals collected from Antarctic waters have been maintained in aquarium facilities in Antarctica and the UK by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) since 1973. The current Facility in Cambridge is the only low temperature research aquarium in the UK, and one of only three globally to regularly hold Antarctic species over extended periods. The facilities and marine animals are used by scientists and Ph.D. students at BAS and at universities, both within the UK and internationally.

In the Polar Regions where environmental change is the fastest on Earth the ability to investigate organism responses to manipulated conditions is a key requirement for UK-based research into Antarctic ecosystems and biodiversity.

The Cambridge Aquarium provides:

• The ability to perform fine-scale analyses on Antarctic species using techniques only available in Europe (e.g. NMR, proteomic and transcriptomic analyses adaptation to the cold and responses to change).
• Access to biological specimens for scientists year-round without having to travel to Antarctica.
• The ability to train junior scientists and Ph.D. students in Antarctic biology.
• The capacity to conduct preliminary trials and develop new small projects at times for grant applications.
• The ability to conduct long-term projects manipulation conditions over periods of years (our longest experiment was an ocean acidification study on sea urchins which lasted 2 years).

Facility Facts:

• 12 aquarium tanks maintained at temperatures between -0.2°C and 0°C.
• Air temperature is kept at -2°C
• Access to three experimental rooms: one is maintained at the same temperature as the aquarium, whereas in the other two rooms, the temperature can be raised to 25°C for temperate marine work.

Experimental advice and experimental equipment provided (along with warm clothing). To discuss further please contact us via CEF@bas.ac.uk.

For more details on this facility see Controlled Environment Facility (CEF)