Sun, sea, sand and research will be on display next week when The University of Queensland’s Moreton Bay Research Station (MBRS)opens its doors to the public.
The free event will take place on Sunday, November 17, from 10am-3pm at the corner of Flinders Avenue and Fraser Street, Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island.
“There will be a wide variety of activities for people of all ages, including tours of the station, exhibits of local marine creatures, seminars and even a sausage sizzle,” said event coordinator and Education Officer Kathy Townsend from UQ’s Centre for Marine Studies.
Ms Townsend said the open day would give members of the community an opportunity to find out about some of the marine life that lives in the area.
“It will give people an insight into the rich diversity of marine life that exists just metres from the shore and will also inform them about the current work being undertaken at the research station,” she said.
A touch tank as well as shark and ray tanks will showcase some of the creatures commonly found in Moreton Bay while a microscope display will show some of the more unknown inhabitants of the area.
“We’ll have tiny creatures like the arrow worm on display, which catches its prey using giant hooks attached to its head, as well as crab larvae that look like satellites orbiting in inner space,” Ms Townsend said.
The Station’s natural history museum will also have displays featuring dugongs, early oceanographic equipment and dolphin anatomy.
Children must be accompanied by an adult and it is recommended that old sports shoes be worn on the guided tours of the sandy flat and rocky shores in front of the Station.
The Station become UQ’s first marine facility after it took over its operations from the CSIRO in 1958. The facilities have recently been rebuilt and feature a modern, fully-equipped teaching laboratory and lecture theatre, a large research laboratory, a UQ linked computer room and library, living quarters for more than 70 people, three boats, a utility and field research equipment.
For further information, contact Ms Townsend (telephone 07 3409 9058, email: mbrs@uq.edu.au) or visit www.marine.uq.edu.au/news/mbrsopen.htm
Media: for further information, contact Ms Townsend (telephone 07 3409 9058, email: kathy.townsend@uq.edu.au), Joanne van Zeeland at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2619, email: communications@uq.edu.au) or visit www.marine.uq.edu.au/news/mbrsopen.htm
