Dauphin Island Sea Lab Launches Multi-Stressor Wet Lab to Study Local Animals

Dauphin Island, Alabama (WKRGMore) – The new wet lab at the Dauphin Island Marine Laboratory (DISL) features state-of-the-art technology that allows scientists to manipulate water in tanks to study fish and animal responses.

Previously, researchers could only change one stressor (temperature, pH, oxygen level, or salinity level) at a time. Now they can change all four of him at once. This is closer to what is actually happening in our local waterways. Furthermore, if he only modifies one element at a time, the threshold the fish can handle may be different than if he modifies several at the same time.

Dr. Ronald Baker, marine scientist at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, explains:

They can also mimic extremes such as Jubilee to see what different fish can tolerate.

A project the new lab is starting is working with states to keep flounder populations high. Alabama has a flounder hatchery program that hatches juveniles and releases them into local waterways. But the problem scientists encounter is finding salinity levels that these fish can tolerate. There is also the added hurdle of constantly changing salinity levels in local waters due to the constant mixing of fresh and salt water. That’s why labs are working to determine the threshold that these baby flounder can handle. can.

Marine scientists start by changing just one stressor before tackling more projects that change multiple factors.

Matt Boehm, marine technical support for DISL, added: Please remain flexible to accept new experiments. It’s kind of curious that you don’t know what you’re trying to do here. I expect some really great research to come out of this. ”