AIMS headquarters Cape Ferguson, Townsville The site Aerial view of the Institute, showing the main laboratory complex and engineering facilities.   General information The Institute is situated on a 207 hectare parcel of land at Cape Ferguson which has Turtle Beach as the eastern boundary and Ticklebelly or Chunda Bay as the southern boundary.   To the north and west is national park land. The site was chosen because of its freedom from adjacent development, clear unpolluted seawater and its ideal harbour. The construction of the facility, completed in June 1977, included an all weather sealed access road, freshwater pipeline from Townsville, saltwater reticulation, an 11 kVA electricity supply from the Townsville grid, underground telegraphic cabling, emergency back up generator, and sewerage treatment plant. The buildings on the site include the Main Laboratory Complex, Marine Operations Centre, six residences and units, and the plant room/canteen complex. The structures are built to withstand cyclonic winds to 225 Km/hr. Unfiltered seawater is pumped from underwater intakes in Turtle Bay to two 450,000 litre reinforced concrete storage reservoirs on an elevated site near the building complex. Freshwater is piped from Townsville, but because of the distance a 2,250,000 litre freshwater reinforced concrete reservoir is located adjacent to the seawater reservoirs so that a service of adequate pressure is available. Since construction, several facilities have been added. The Mariculture Facility was opened in March 1990. The Ron Smith Building, which houses the Mechanical Engineering, Electronics, Carpentry workshops and the pressure test tank was opened in May 1992. Also added in recent times is the Mangrove shade house, Monitoring and Oceanographic Modules and the Flammable Liquids Solvent Store   Is it Chunda Bay or  Ticklebelly Bay? The extract below comes from the original Australian Institute of Marine Science Information Manual dated November 1978. The AIMS breakwater and jetty are located on the southern side of Cape Ferguson commonly called Ticklebelly Bay. However on the topographical map series produced by the Division of National Mapping it is referred to as Chunda Bay. Which is correct? The choice of words depends on one's taste, but old timers tell of the origins of the two names - according to legend. The first legend concerns a huge groper which lives in the bay. He is estimated to be 150 years old and has grown to an enormous size, about 500 kg. His age and size is attributed to his craftiness in never having been caught by fisherman. He has swallowed the bait many times but, like most gropers, he possesses the ability to regurgitate it - hook, line and sinker. Consequently the bay was named after the notable Australian activity - the Chunda! The second legend stems from the aboriginal folklore. The waters of the bay teem with fish and the bigger fish grow fat and sluggish feeding on the abundance of smaller fish that laze in the shallows. The indigenous aborigines of past times displayed ancient skills in stroking the fish on their undersides, that is, tickle their belly. The fish naturally relaxed with the enjoyment and the aborigines were able to scoop them by hand onto the shore. No bait, hook line or sinker - just Ticklebelly!!     AIMS main entrance Access to AIMS Townsville The Cape Ferguson Facility is located 50 Km by road from the Townsville central business district (CBD). See - Where is AIMS Townsville located. Access is by appointment only or escorted tours. Public access is not permitted from the sea. All visitors are requested to speak to the receptionist on the intercom at the gate and follow the signs to the reception Area. We ask that you record your visit in our visitors book and follow the instructions offered by our Receptionist. The area surrounding the Institute is National Park and the ocean area is classified as no entry and zoned "Scientific Research Zone". Hence we request that you respect the area and no fishing or swimming is allowed. Public access is not allowed to Turtle Beach or the Marine Operations Centre. The main laboratory complex The 10,000 sq. m Main Laboratory Complex is the focal point of the Institute. Completed in June 1977, the unique and unprecedented module design is to develop and maximise interaction between scientific staff. The slope of the site places the ground floor at ground level at the western end of the building and the lower ground floor at the eastern end. The complex is air conditioned and has reticulated services including compressed air, LPG, and fresh and salt water. Each of the original eight modules has a open balcony deck on one side and opens onto the central Library on either of two floors. The Library forms the focal point of the complex and has conference rooms and a lecture theatre adjacent. Scientists Offices open onto multi user laboratories which were designed on a chemistry/biological sorting format. Specialist Laboratories now include Microbiology, Molecular Chemistry & Biology (Mass Spectrometer, NMR and HPLC's), Organic Geo-Chemistry, Nutrient Analysis facility (SFA's), Elemental analysis (including ICP-AES, Zeeman GFF-AAS) Gamma Radiochemistry, and Genetics Laboratory. Shared facilities include Constant Temperature Rooms, Radioisotope laboratories, Solvent Distillation room and microscope facilities. Unfiltered ambient temperature Seawater flows through two aquaria on the ground floor and the first floor contains a flow through cascade aquarium with solar simulation. Two of the largest balconies were enclosed and converted into scientists offices. The exposed timber noticeable in the library and petitions is Queensland Silver Ash. The Ron Smith engineering facility Named in memory of a valued and long-serving AIMS employee who passed away in 1996, the complex consists of four separate workshops covering a total floor space of 2,400 sq. m. Approximately 50% is air-conditioned. Compressed air is reticulated throughout the complex and special extraction systems remove fumes and dust etc.   Aerial view of the Ron Smith  engineering facility. The Electronics Workshop prototypes and constructs electronic instrumentation for sub-sea deployment using various sensors, data loggers and telemetry initiatives including real-time weather data transmission. The Mechanical Workshop designs and constructs sub-sea instrumentation containers and prototype mechanical field equipment such as sediment traps and respirometers. Both standard and C.N.C machine tools are used. A pressurised test tank is also used.> The Metal Fabrication Workshop designs and constructs items such as weather station reef towers, sub-sea equipment such as grabs, corers, winches and ships gear. The Carpenters Workshop designs and constructs field equipment, mangrove access walkways, weather towers, concrete moorings as well as timber and fibreglass structures. Minor repairs and alterations to the complex are also provided. The mariculture facility The construction of a small experimental hatchery to culture prawn larvae in 1987/88 marked the beginning of mariculture research at AIMS. Current research is aimed to domesticate the Giant Tiger Prawn, Penaeus monodon, and use genetic techniques to produce improved strains of this species for the Australian prawn farming industry. (see research projects). With a mix of industry and Government funding the facility expanded rapidly and in 1990 the Maturation and Hatchery facility was opened. Since then extra larval rearing rooms and a nursery have been added. The facility, located to the south of the main complex, uses three settling tanks before saltwater can be heated and filtered through sand, ultraviolet and cartridge filters. The water is aerated with air blowers. The main experimental areas are:- Spawning/hatching room (separate batches of eggs are collected and spawned) Live food production area (Algae and Artemia are cultured to feed prawn larvae) Small and large scale larval rearing areas (batches are reared to the PL15 stage) Nursery shed (up to 200 batches are reared from PL15 size to taggable size) Maturation Unit (can cater for up to 440 individually tagged broodstock) Laboratory and Office Complex Mariculture facilities at Cape Ferguson. The field operations centre On the tip of Cape Ferguson is a breakwater and jetty which faces the protected Tickle Belly Bay. Research vessels use this facility for loading and unloading of scientific equipment. A floating pontoon and concrete boat ramp allows access for smaller craft which often work in the area.  The field operations centre is the hub of field operations and scientific field trips on land and sea are controlled through here. The Institutes three major vessels are the 27.4m RV Lady Basten, the 20.7m RV Harry Messel and the Barge, the RV Hercules. Smaller trailer vessels including the 7.5m aluminium RV Titan are housed at the field operations centre. A fleet of nine field vehicles along with the commuter fleet are refuelled and maintained from here. Specialised diving and scientific field loan equipment are issued and serviced at the field operations centre. Field operations facilities Cape Ferguson, looking south-east towards Ayr and the sand spit at the mouth of the Burdekin River. For more information about AIMS Field operations and research vessels follow these links. Field operations  Research vessels    The canteen facility Spotless Services of Australia currently manage the catering, cleaning and grounds maintenance contract. The canteen provides staff with meals and refreshments each work day and also caters for official functions and visitors. The canteen building is separate from the main complex and contains facilities and amenities for people with disabilities . Visitors are welcome to use the facility but groups need to book in advance. (See tours section) On site accommodation As the Institute is located 50 km from Townsville, on site accommodation is available. Six self-contained houses and six motel-style units are constructed in a way to capture the sea breezes and the natural beauty of the surroundings.  The houses have concrete cyclone shelters for bathrooms and laundries. Visiting researchers, official guests and staff running overnight experiments use these facilities. They are not available to the public. On-site accommodation units.   Cape Ferguson looking north towards Cape Cleveland. AIMS marine facilities  in the foreground. AIMS marine facilities at Cape Ferguson.

December 18, 2008