The Portobello Marine Laboratory is located on the end of a short peninsula close to the township of Portobello, within the limits of the city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. It is run as part of the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, the main campus of which is 23 kilometres to the southwest in Dunedin's main urban area.

History

The laboratory is New Zealand and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

's oldest established

marine research Marine Research were an indiepop group, based in Oxford/London (UK), formed in 1997 by four of the five members of Heavenly ( Amelia Fletcher, Peter Momtchiloff, Cathy Rogers and Rob Pursey), following the death of Heavenly drummer Mathew ...

facility and was opened on 13 January 1904. It was originally proposed for Dunedin by leading MP and naturalist

G. M. Thomson George Malcolm Thomson (2 October 1848 – 25 August 1933) was a New Zealand scientist, educationalist, social worker and politician. Biography Born on 2 October 1848 in Calcutta, Thomson grew up in Scotland, being educated at the Edinbur ...

as a fish hatchery. Initially planned to be sited at

Pūrākaunui Pūrākaunui (formerly spelt Purakanui) is a small settlement in Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located within the bounds of the city of Dunedin, in a rural coastal area some to the north of the city centre. Pūrākaunui lie ...

, north of

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

, the current site on the shores of

Otago Harbour Otago Harbour is the harbor, natural harbour of Dunedin, New Zealand, consisting of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. They join at its southwest end, from the harbour m ...

was deemed more suitable. The laboratory went through a period of revival in the 1950s, in which Elizabeth Joan Batham was a key player. The laboratory is highly regarded worldwide for its facilities and research, and is an important asset to the university's Marine Science Department. The facility also includes the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre, which offers education programmes to pre-booked groups.

References

External links

Laboratory website
Otago Peninsula Buildings and structures of the University of Otago Research institutes in New Zealand Otago Harbour {{NewZealand-struct-stub