Marine mesocosm optimisation: Images

Researchers involved in environmental studies often face the difficulty of understanding the effect of man-made products on the environment, simply because it would be unethical to test this in situ, e.g., one cannot add oil to the marine environment to determine its impact on the marine organisms and the environment as a whole. Researchers have to resort to mimicking the environment in the laboratory. This approach comes with a challenge - how do we mimic seawater or do we use natural seawater; is there enough oxygen entering the system; do we need to replace the water on a regular basis to ensure a healthy environment or not. The setup of these experimental systems (mesocosms) needs to be monitored on a daily basis while optimising the conditions.In this dataset, images are provided of the three Trials set up to optimise the mesocosm conditions:Experimental_Trials_1_and_2_Pictures: Adobe pdf document containing Images of mesocosm setups containing mussels and sediment, testing the use of site water (seawater) vs the use of a commercial Red Sea salt which mimics the properties of seawater. This initial trial was set up in large plastic containers.Files labelled as 'Trial_3_Mesocosm_Day_#': Images of the pilot mesocosm setup containing sediment, mussels, and brown seaweed in one system, and using natural seawater. The container has a 22L capacity, is solid glass, reducing the risk of plastic contamination. The 'Day' indicate the day of the mesocosm on which the photograph was taken (Day 000, Day 007, Day 014, Day 021), and '#' denotes the number of photographs that were taken.