Dove Marine Laboratory

Dove Marine Laboratory has a wide range of equipment including:

• standard field equipment for use on the shore, available for class sizes up to 50 students
• deep water tanks, with a water depth of 3m with continuous water circulation
• mesocosm measuring 2m in diameter and 1m high for large scale experiments in the main aquarium
• 5 experimental cabinets measuring 1m x 1m x 2.5m designed for smaller tank experiments which require the control of temperature (3-20°) and photoperiod

Find out about when we are open to the public, and our other Outreach activities.

We offer an exciting programme of activities for school pupils of all ages. Why not see what is on offer on our Activities for Schools page and contact our Education Officer to discuss your booking.

The Dove Marine Laboratory is located only 9 miles from Newcastle City Centre. It has excellent local public transport links. It's a two-minute walk from Cullercoats metro station and is serviced by Newcastle International airport and national rail links.

Disabled access

Please contact us to discuss your needs.

Parking

We have limited car parking on site so we advise our guests to use the free car park located on Belle Vue Street, Cullercoats NE30 4QX.  It offers free public parking all day and to reach us at the Dove visitors simply need to walk through the underpass to the beach.

If you need any further help, just give us a call on 0191 2083051.

For further information on the Dove Marine Laboratories or to hire the conference facilities:

Contact Mrs Jill Cowans: marineoutstations@ncl.ac.uk 

Dove Marine Laboratory
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
Newcastle University
Cullercoats, North Shields
NE30 4PZ
Telephone: +44 (0)191 208 3051

The Dove Marine Laboratory supports both teaching and research activities within the School of Marine Science and Technology.

Teaching

Our students use the Lab as a base to explore local field sites and attend taught sessions within our teaching suite

Undergraduate

As a student on one of our three Marine Science degree programmes, you will undertake work at the Dove during all three years at Newcastle.

Year 1

In your first year, you will visit the Dove Marine Lab twice. During the following modules you will develop survey and identification techniques important for professional Marine Scientists.

Year 2

In Stage 2, you will do more advanced survey work of habitats close to the Dove Marine Laboratory to further develop your environmental assessment skills.

You'll then design your own scientific experiments in these modules. Additional field sites across Northumberland and Durham, will also be visited to build your experience in a range of important marine habitats.

Year 3

During your final year in Stage 3, the amount of time you spend at the Lab will vary depending on the focus of your final year research project. The Lab is used as a base for field study and collecting expeditions.

The aquaria is used for the study of live marine animals, and these facilities are complemented by a range of ecology, physiology and microbiology research suites for project work.

Undergraduate field teaching at the Dove is complemented by our field courses abroad, and by teaching at sea on board the Princess Royal research vessel.

Postgraduate

As part of our Consultancy (IMEC) MSc programmes you'll use the Dove Machine Laboratory to further your environmental research skills.

You'll develop skills in planning and delivering biological surveys in the field and cover statistical analysis of ecosystem data in our teaching suite.

Postgraduate students on the IMEC MSc in the Marine Consultancy module also use the Lab as a research facility for their MSc research projects.

Research and networks

There's a strong research community at the Dove Marine Laboratory that encourages interaction between students and staff.

This allows us to develop and promote research-led teaching activities within our degrees. The Lab is home to research-active academics, MSc students from both within the School and other Schools within the University, PhD students and post-doctoral researchers, as well as visiting researchers.

Research interests of staff based at the Dove range from deep-sea food webs and marine mammal biology, to ballast water treatments and marine biotechnology.

The Dove Time Series is housed at The Lab, which is an important resource for monitoring changes in diversity of North Sea plankton and benthic animals.

The Lab is also a member of MARS The European Network of Marine Research Institutes and Stations. We offer a Travel Award of up to €2000 to support PhD students and early stage career researchers, whose institutes are members of this network, to undertake research at the Lab. There is a total of two awards offered in a year. Download the MARS Network Researcher Travel Application.

The Dove Marine Laboratory has a host of available facilities and we welcome opportunities for collaboration with both internal and external researchers interested in furthering their research and links with the School.

Dr Jane Delany, Senior Lecturer
Intertidal and Plankton Ecology, Citizen Science

Dr Clare Fitzsimmons, Senior Lecturer
Marine Management, Spatial Variability in Marine Systems

Dr Ben Wigham, Lecturer
Deep Sea Ecology

Dr Heather Sugden, Senior Lecturer
Intertidal Ecology and Climate Change impacts

Dr Theresa Rueger, Lecturer
Tropical Marine Biology

Prof. Pip Moore, Professor
Marine Ecology and the Impacts of Environmental Change

The coastal location of the Dove Marine Laboratory offers a novel and picturesque setting for your Staff Away Day, workshop or small conference. We have two rooms available for hire.

Buchanan Room

The Buchanan Room is set up cabaret style with five large round tables, each seating six people.

It has three large wall screens and a computer which is linked to the university network (Microsoft Office).

You can view virtual tour of the Buchanan room.

Evans Room

With sinks, laboratory style benches and wall-mounted audio-visual presentation equipment, this room doubles as a laboratory-style workshop room or a novel meeting room in a marine laboratory setting.

It holds 30 people comfortably. You can view the virtual tour of the Evans room.

Additional facilities

We can also provide:

• wireless access
• flipcharts
• wall-mounted computer-linked flatscreens for audio-visual presentations
• stationary
• catering provision
• reception support

There is free parking in the immediate vicinity and excellent public transport links to the city centre.

Contact marineoutstations@ncl.ac.uk for booking enquiries.

For further information and to discuss your booking needs, please contact Mrs Jill Cowans:

Email: marineoutstations@ncl.ac.uk

Dove Marine Laboratory
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
Newcastle University
Cullercoats, North Shields
NE30 4PZ

Telephone: +44 (0)191 208 3051

Newcastle University has maintained a monitoring programme of marine biota off the Northumberland Coast for over 50 years.

To derive the extent and implications of climate change, overfishing and habitat destruction impacts, it is essential to have evidence that can distinguish anthropogenic impact from natural fluctuations in marine populations. Datasets from monitoring programmes with a large temporal scale are invaluable for this, therefore  a planktonic and benthic monitoring time series is conducted at the Dove Marine Laboratory. The scientific results of faunal, biotic and abiotic factors of these two programmes gives the evidence needed to inform policy of our marine waters.

Scientific collaboration, and approaches by scientists who want to access the samples or data is welcomed (marineoutstations@ncl.ac.uk).

Watch the Dove Marine Diaries: Dove Time Series

Planktonic Dove Time Series

This time series was established in 1968. Monthly sampling occurs at a site of ~ 54m depth, 5.5 nautical miles east of Blyth port (Northumberland) (55⁰ 07’N, 01⁰ 20’W).

Three nets are used in conjunction with a flowmeter in four ways:

• WP-3 (1mm mesh) towed horizontally for 10 minutes at ~ 25m depth
• WP-3 (1mm mesh) vertical haul (50m to surface)
• WP-2 (200µm mesh) hauled vertically (50m to surface), 4 times with each haul combined
• P200 (63µm mesh) hauled vertically (50m to surface), 4 times with each haul combined

The samples are fixed in 4% buffered formaldehyde, and subsequently transferred to 70% IDA for long – term storage. The physical samples are stored at the Dove Marine Laboratory (1968 – present).

The time series was established as a zooplankton monitoring programme, and the methodology reflects this. However, the preserved P200 samples are analysed semi-quantitatively (M Baptie, 2013) to determine long term changes in phytoplankton community composition.

Both zooplankton and phytoplankton assemblages exhibit long term changes in community structure and indicators of environmental change.

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Benthic Dove Time Series

This time series was established in 1971. The benthic time series was supported and co-funded jointly with University of Liverpool between 2005 and 2015. The sampling was re-introduced in March 2021 after 6 years cessation.

Samples were taken at two sites 2-4 times per year, 

• Station P:Located 18.5km off the Northumberland coast, at a depth of 80m (55° 07? N, 01° 15? W).
• Station M1:Located 10.5km off the Northumberland coast at a depth of 55m.

The current sampling occurs in January, March, June, and September with 5 replicates at both sites, to allow for continuation and expansion into seasonal and natural variation. In the 1970s, more extensive sampling occurred with 30 grabs at each site.

Replicate 0.1m² grabs are sieved over a 0.5mm mesh and fixed in 4% buffered formaldehyde and later transferred to 70% IDA, and the PSA samples frozen. Physical samples (1971 – 2015) have not been stored after identification and processing. 2021 – Present samples are stored at the Dove Marine Laboratory

A number of marked shifts in community assemblage composition in these samples have been detected.

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