HISTORY OF THE SHARK LAB
The Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation (Shark Lab) was founded by Dr. Samuel “Doc” Gruber on the island of South Bimini, Bahamas. Over the years there have been several changes to the facilities since the Shark Lab's inception in 1990.
Originally a police barracks (likely built in the 1960s) Doc sought to reinvent the building to imitate and function as a research vessel. In this sense, the Shark Lab could remain self-contained, self-sufficient, and conservation oriented.
The Lab facility itself is a small wood-framed house located on the south shore of the island. It sits on a small parcel of land with a beach to the south and a small marina to the north. With the design of a research vessel in mind, the Station is made of five cabins or “state rooms” each with two sets of bunk beds. The rest of the Lab consists of a kitchen and dining area, two heads (bathrooms) and the lab room itself which acts as storage for some of our scientific equipment and samples. The Shark Lab can sleep up to 22 personnel, however the typical team is made up of eight long term crew members and up to ten volunteers.
FACILITY UPGRADE April 2020 to Present
Although the Shark Lab has undergone several makeovers throughout the years, with the addition of an external storage area, and extension of a staff room onto the porch, it saw its biggest renovation in 2019 and 2020. In the former, a stand-alone shed was built to hold a new desalinator machine. This was designed as a small, air-conditioned room on stilts, in order to store all our water pumps and other plumbing supplies. This space was essential to install a larger machine that has the capacity to produce 500 gallons of clean drinking water in one sitting. Our technicians also needed a work bench to clean out filters and access all parts of the machine for regular upkeep and maintenance.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Shark Lab made the difficult decision to close its doors to the public and send home volunteers. This left a skeletal team of staff on site to tackle some huge construction projects that would otherwise have taken years!
THE LAB
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One of the first focal points of the Shark Lab’s renovations was the lab room itself. This room contains most of our scientific equipment, while serving as a work area for research and data entry. During courses and volunteer training, it functions as a lecture theatre with its presentation screen. While this part of the station did not undergo major reconstruction, it did receive a new floor, new internal walls, a new ceiling, improved door and high efficiency lights. The final touch included new shelves and counters which showcases some Shark Lab memories, and a new large screen television to be used for presentations.
As of May 2022, the Lab room is 99% completed, with only a few minor touch ups needed to finish this project off!
As of May 2022, the Lab room is 99% completed, with only a few minor touch ups needed to finish this project off!
KITCHEN & LIVING ROOM
Previously, the Shark Lab’s kitchen was set up in a small corridor between a bathroom and the tool room. This claustrophobic area made mealtimes an interesting task at the best of times! With space for only 1-2 people to prepare meals, cooking for twenty guests was often more challenging than necessary. The old kitchen was entirely ripped out, alongside the tool room. Following which, just like most of the house, the internal walls were restructured with dry wall and wash board put up. The new layout essentially doubled counter space, made room for a deep based sink (and new spray faucet), and we have added an island counter for serving meals and extra preparation space. The final task was to install spotlights and better ventilation on a new ceiling.
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The new kitchen and dining area is fully equipped with appliances and storage for food. This project was especially important, as the Shark Lab places a food order every 2-3 months, so requires enough room to maximize storage space for supplies arriving in bulk. On top of this, the kitchen has two large refrigerators for lab food and a smaller one for personal items. The new design sees the kitchen opening to the dining and living area, which also includes two large food storage freezers, and a sofa.
Shark Lab Alumni might notice a big difference in size when visiting the dining room, as among the building of cabinets and new sharky decor, the team chose to increase the room area. Now the dining region expands 2.5 metres further out, meaning that there is more space to accommodate large university courses and other educational course visitors. As part of this, the porch was also rebuilt with new foundations.
HALLWAY
The Lab's former hallway was adorned with hundreds of photos that were taken by BBFSF staff and volunteers over the years. In the Station renovations, the team unfortunately had to take down the Wall of Fame/Shame in order to rebuild the walls. After a few days of work, including a new paint job, the hallway was rejuvenated. After scanning the photo wall photos and receiving a number of new pictures, we have created a digital slideshow which is played on a television in the dining area.
CABINS
Although the general size of the rooms was not altered, old cupboards and bunkbeds were removed and replaced. The new rooms were re-floored, got some new walls, and the most exciting part…after 25 years… brand new home-made bunk beds! Every visitor will now enjoy the luxury of a larger bed, that is more easily accessible, and is equipped with blackout curtains and extra storage space. Even with the addition of these beds, the team was still able to fit in a study desk per room.
EXTERNAL
The final and most obvious change to the Lab, is the re-building of its external walls, including cladding and then a popping blue and white paint job.
Brand new gutters were added to utilize the wet seasons in Bimini, and several cisterns were installed in order to store more rainwater for showers.
The new roof is now completed, providing more effective storm protection with hurricane rated metal sheeting, hurricane straps, and increased support beams. We have added hurricane shutters to the window to add to our overall protection and complete the exterior of the house.
DOCK & SEAWALL
After being rebuilt in 2020, the new dock is a U-shape with two walkways, and two stairwells for easy boat access. The dock has two tables for the preparation of bait, and for the filleting of food fish. The team also installed a freshwater hose alongside the previous salt water hose to help in cleaning and rinsing equipment, and a rack was built to hold our large bait coolers. In addition, the long awaited seawall has finally been installed and we no longer have to worry about the property flooding!
VEHICLES
The Shark Lab fleet consists of ten vessels ranging in length from 16 to 26 feet, all of which are essential to research:
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Sundance skiffs: two x 17 ft models powered by tiller driven 50 HP Mercury outboards
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Sundance skiffs: three x 16 ft models powered by tiller driven 40 HP Mercury outboards
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Sundance bay boats: two x 20 ft centre-console powered by 115 HP Mercury outboards
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Sea Born LX26 centre-console powered by two 150 HP Mercury outboards
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Rupert RHIB powered by two 115 HP Yamaha outboards.
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On land, the Shark Lab relies on two vehicles to run errands on Bimini. The task force is made up of our Kubota RTV-X1140, and a 2001 Ford F150. These vehicles are used for work related activities such as fuel and water purchases and transporting people and supplies to and from the airport.
TO THE FUTURE...
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The Lab still has a long way to go, with many projects still underway. Following the current facility’s completion, we have plans in progress for the design and construction of a new centre next door. We will do our best to keep you posted on this exciting journey!