Humboldt State Marine Lab & Aquarium

The Humboldt State University Marine Lab occupies a 16,200 square feet building overlooking the Pacific Ocean, near Trinidad Bay, Trinidad Beach, and Trinidad Headland. The Lab is ideally located for accessing several local marine habitats and geological formations including an extensive rocky intertidal zone, sandy beaches, mud flats, protected and exposed subtidal areas, several lagoons and estuaries, and submarine canyons.  It is well equipped for instruction and research in the marine sciences. Specialized facilities include a culture room for larval invertebrates and algae, a wet lab for rearing marine invertebrates and fish for research, technical assistants with a complete shop for design and fabrication of experimental equipment. Humboldt State has a 90 foot oceanographic research vessel, the Coral Sea. The university owns small and medium (12- to 24- foot) sized boats for near shore, bay and estuary work. Also available is a 26 foot pontoon boat for working in Humboldt Bay. A self guided tour is available, in addition to several view tanks and a touch tank. In addition to the standard biological and oceanographic laboratory equipment, other equipment includes UV-Vis double beam spectrophotometer, auto analyzer, gas chromatograph, liquid scintillation counter, various research microscopes including phase interference, inverted and polarizing, with digital still or video and 35mm photomicrography capabilities, video equipment, high speed refrigerated centrifuge, incubators, Ro-Tap sieve shaker, computer lab with T-1 line to the campus main frame and internet, pH meters, various analytical balances including an electro-balance, X-ray machine and numerous other items. The seawater system supplies classrooms and numerous holding tanks ranging in size from 30 gallons to 1400 gallons. Seawater is pumped from Trinidad Bay into storage tanks above the Lab. The water is gravity fed to a sump then pumped through sand filters and chillers before entering the lab. The chillers maintain our seawater system at a constant 11°C (+/- 1°). Experiments requiring variations in temperature are accommodated by additional chillers or heaters.