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Aerial view of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography's Dartmouth, Nova Scotia campus, facing north from The Narrows.

Coordinates: 44°40′58″N 63°36′43″W / 44.68278°N 63.61194°W / 44.68278; -63.61194 The Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) is a major Canadian government ocean research facility located in Dartmouth in the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia. The Bedford Institute of Oceanography is the largest ocean research station in Canada. Established in 1962 as Canada's first, and currently largest, federal centre for oceanographic research, BIO derives its name from the Bedford Basin, an inland bay comprising the northern part of Halifax Harbour, upon which it is located.

Spread out over 40 acres (160,000 m²) of a former Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) property near Shannon Park in Dartmouth, BIO consists of a series of interconnected buildings housing research labs and offices, as well as docks for Canadian Coast Guard and RCN research vessels.

As the federal government seeks to concentrate its operations in the Halifax Regional Municipality, BIO is being considered for additional office buildings to house other non-oceanographic and non-research organizations and their employees. As such, new buildings have been built for the Canadian Coast Guard as well as Environment Canada.

  Current operations

BIO houses several organizations from various federal departments which perform targeted research mandated by government or in partnership, advise on marine environments, provide navigational charts covering Georges Bank to the Canadian Arctic, and respond to environmental emergencies.

  Federal departments and agencies

The following departments and agencies of the Government of Canada maintain facilities at BIO:^[1]

• Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Maritime Region)
  • Canadian Coast Guard (Maritime Region)
  • Canadian Hydrographic Service (Atlantic)

• Department of Natural Resources (Atlantic Region)
  • Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic)

• Department of the Environment
• Department of National Defence
  • Working with CHS Atlantic.

  Facilities

In addition to office and research space, BIO has extensive laboratories, particularly for performing research into aquatic species. Tours of BIO are offered for visitors during the summer months and a popular tour destination are some of the large aquariums and tanks used for research. There are also "touch tanks" in a facility called the Sea Pavilion where visitors are permitted to handle North Atlantic Lobster, Snow Crabs, Rock Crabs, Clams (also known as Pea Clams), Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, and other species. Some tanks are transparent and allow visitors to view giant mackerel and sturgeon as well as other rare and interesting specimens such as a lobster that is half male and half female. The Sea Pavilion contains information concerning Leatherback Sea Turtles, Atlantic Whitefish, Northern Right Whales, sharks, Lake Whitefish, Largemouth Bass, Brook Trout, Atlantic Wolffish, and Atlantic Pickerel. There are also displays featuring protected areas such as Sable Island and The Gulley.

  References

  External links

• Institute of Oceanography