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Media preview: Dal celebrates 50th anniversary of world‑leading ocean research facility with Open Community Day on May 11

Posted by Communications and Marketing on May 6, 2024 in News

To mark the 50th anniversary of Dalhousie’s Aquatron ocean research facility, the university will host a free family friendly Community Day on Saturday, May 11 from 1 to 4 p.m. The event will gather ocean researchers from Dalhousie, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Parks Canada to share their work and engage attendees with interactive exhibits and activities. 

Programmed with all ages in mind, the event will feature everything from face painting, touch tanks and video displays to ocean glider demos, book readings, and tours of the Aquatron, Canada’s largest and most sophisticated university-based ocean research facility.

The Aquatron is comprised of a series of specialized tanks holding a combined volume of over 2 million liters and a wide variety of smaller tanks, research spaces and equipment. It allows scientists to artificially create any ocean or freshwater environment, mimicking temperatures, chemical compositions, and currents. It has been a home to countless ocean species from sea turtles and sharks to seahorses and a number of endangered species. 

John Batt, Manager of the Aquatron, is available for interviews or sneak preview tours.

Read more via Dal News: https://www.dal.ca/news/2024/05/06/aquatron-community-day-2024.html

Interviews, preview tours of Aquatron facilities, video and images of past ocean research are available upon request.

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Media contact:

Andrew Riley
Senior manager, research and innovation communications
Dalhousie University
902-456-7904 
andrew.riley@dal.ca