L’Aquàrium de Barcelona has taken part and continues to take part in R&D&I projects with several public institutions, giving support to scientific studies or projects related to the marine environment. We provide spaces to conduct studies (quarantine room), material and specialised technical staff. Besides, we participate in the design of the projects.
At the same time, we also offer ourselves as a space for dissemination, education and a vehicle for the transmission of information and biological material. For us, being able to work and collaborate with these entities allows us to acquire new knowledge and be in constant contact with scientists of our interest who have become consultants in certain situations, and to be able to collaborate in marine conservation projects and in projects that allow us to improve our knowledge of the marine environment and the biology of the organisms that live in it.
Below are some of the studies, research programmes, collaborations and conservation programmes that we have carried out over the years:
Studies and research programmes
- Control of the levels of heavy metals in the water supply of L’Aquàrium de Barcelona (2016-2019).
- Use of natural anaesthetics versus synthetic anaesthetics in ornamental fish (2019).
- Development of a model for predicting the quality of seawater entering L’Aquàrium de Barcelona using metadata analysis (2019).
- Study of the efficiency of copper removal in seawater with resins and coconut charcoal (2016).
- Study of the reproduction of lobsters (2016-2018).
- Study of the bacterial populations of the marine benthos associated with larvae and adults of the gorgonian species Paramuricea clavata and Eucinella singularis (2019-2022).
- Captive breeding of tropical corals for the repopulation of display aquaria (2016-2019).
- Virtues Project (2015-2019): VIRTUE-s (Virtual Interactive Resources and Tools in Universal Education-of the Sea) focuses on the development of innovative, digital and practical tools to increase the quality of natural science education, using Ocean-based examples. It is a tool that allows students to take the initiative and conduct experiments in aquatic environments.
- Study of the life cycle and reproduction of the shrimp Palaemonetes varians (2019).
- Study of the life cycle of the spider crab Maja squinado (2019).
- Captive breeding of seahorses Hippocampus guttulatus (2019). Species at risk due to the environmental degradation that the Mar Menor has suffered in recent years. Project in collaboration with the Murcia Aquarium.
- Captive breeding of jellyfish Aurelia aurita and Cassiopea andromeda (2019-2021).
Conservation projects
Collaboration with the Fishermen’s Guild of L’Estartit and the Natural Park of Montgrí to promote the reproduction of Sepia officinalis by creating protected areas to favour the hatching of eggs. The project aims to combine the preservation of the natural heritage, the revitalisation of the local economy and the spread of natural values amongst the population.
Collaboration with Submón. This event began with the journey of different ecological bottles containing an environmental challenge along 5 routes throughout Spain, which began on 8 June 2017 and ended on 24 November of the same year at the CENEAM (National Centre for Environmental Education) in Valsaín (Segovia).
L’Aquàrium de Barcelona participates as a member of the Arctic Ambassador Center Network: “From plankton to polar bear – the importance of the food chain”. Lecture given by biologists from L’Aquàrium de Barcelona to students at the Daina Isard School in Olesa de Montserrat.
- Plastic bottles in the sea, the great threat to the oceans. Several aquariums in Europe, including L’Aquàrium de Barcelona, decorated one of their tanks with plastic and other types of waste to raise public awareness of the importance of reducing the use of these materials.
This project aims to contribute to the knowledge of the marine fauna and flora of the seabed off our coasts, as well as the impact of a large city on aquatic ecosystems. Collaboration with VIMAR, the scientific team of the Department of Biology and Ecology of the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona, the scientific team of L’Aquàrium de Barcelona and the Department of Natural Heritage and Marine Environment of FECDAS.
Collaborations
- Collaboration with the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona (1996-2018).
- Collaboration with the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Barcelona (2011-2012).
- Collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
- Collaboration with the Centre for Mediterranean Marine Studies (CSIC) (2003-2017).
- Collaboration with the Xarxa d’Aqüicultura de Catalunya. “Reproduction of the grouper”. “The grouper, an endangered species. How to face its disappearance” (2008-2013).
- Collaboration with the University of Gothenburg (2015-2018).
- International Symposium on jellyfish proliferations (2016).
- Organised by the CSIC and the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona, L’Aquàrium de Barcelona hosted the 5th International Symposium on jellyfish proliferations, the first in Europe.
- Collaboration with the CSIC’s Scientific Centre of Blanes, CEAB. (2022).
- Collaboration with FECDAS: Association of underwater activities of Catalonia (2022).
- Collaboration with the Faculty of Murcia (2022).
- Collaboration with Vimar in the MEDES project (2022). Monitoring of heterobranch molluscs in the Natural Park of Mongrí, Medes islands and the Baix Ter (2022).