The National Sea Simulator (SeaSim) at AIMS is an internationally significant experimental marine research facility. It uses cutting-edge industrial process automation technologies to enable complex, large scale, long-term aquarium-based experimental studies to support research on Australia’s marine estate.
SeaSim’s reliability and precise control of multiple parameters enables scientific excellence across diverse ocean conditions and ecosystems, from coral reefs to seagrass meadows. The facility enables scientists to gain valuable insights into ecosystem and organism function, their responses to environmental changes, and to support informed decisions for managing our oceans into the future.
SeaSim features various experimental spaces ranging from 1300m2 of outdoor space allowing large-scale experiments under natural lighting conditions to smaller controlled environment rooms with artificial lighting.
The facility offers unparalleled opportunities to study marine organisms and processes, providing precise control of environmental parameters like:
- temperature,
- light,
- pH,
- salinity,
- sediments, and
- contaminants
This control allows research in areas such as:
- future oceans and climate change, climate change mitigation and adaptation
- water quality and emerging contaminants (ecotoxicology),
- marine diseases and pests,
- biodiversity conservation,
- sustainable development and
- technology and innovation.
Supporting tropical marine research
Adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef, and just 50km from Townsville CBD at AIMS headquarters, the SeaSim is in an optimal location to support research on Australia’s tropical marine estate including key government initiatives, such as the Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan and the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program.
Research
Our facility boasts advanced capabilities to precisely regulate a multitude of factors to support research
