Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
structed by the Kreysler Company of urethane foam sandwiched be-
tween two layers of fiberglass. For a ten-hour trip, we thought, the well-
insulated tank wouldn't need refrigeration, not even in the hundred-
degree heat of the Central Valley. Like our other holding tanks, the
inside would have black vertical stripes so the fish would see the tank's
boundaries. Its life-support system would be on a separate pallet con-
nected by hoses.
The plan was to build the tank and its separate life-support unit so
that it could be lifted onto a large rented truck whenever we needed
to move fish. (When full of water, the tank and its life-support pallet
weighed thirty thousand pounds.) A professional truck driver would
handle all the driving, so we'd be free to concentrate on the welfare of
the fish and the functioning of the life-support system.
TUNA RESEARCH FACILITY
Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, next door to the aquar-
ium, had just hired tuna physiologist Dr. Barbara Block. Encouraged
by our successes with tuna, she was anxious to have a facility at Hop-
kins where she could keep tuna for her behavioral and physiological
work. Together, Chuck Farwell, John Christiansen, and Barbara de-
signed a state-of-the-art tuna holding and research facility that would
meet the needs of both our institutions as well as satisfy the require-
ments of the tuna.
The Tuna Research and Conservation Center, financed by the aquar-
ium and located on Hopkins property, opened in August 1995. It con-
sists of three large holding tanks: two are thirty feet in diameter and
six feet deep, holding thirty thousand gallons each, and the third is forty
feet in diameter and ten feet deep, with a capacity of ninety thousand
gallons. The design of the life-support system for each tank is based
on lessons we'd learned from the water quality and animal load on
the system at Moss Landing. The new seawater systems were improved
with higher circulation and filtration rates, plus heating, aeration, and
foam fractionation to remove fish wastes. This meant that a substan-
tial population of tuna could be housed while still maintaining the
high-quality water required by these open ocean fish.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search