Marineland’s Whitney Lab Building a Chinese Connection
Enterprise Flagler and Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience hoping for Marineland lab expansion with help from Chinese investors.
Palm Coast, Florida – August 22, 2008 – Following an earlier visit to Flagler County by a delegation of Chinese business interests, Enterprise Flagler led a May visit to China. Dr. Peter Anderson, professor and director of the Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience was part of the Flagler delegation. Anderson hopes one result of the visits will be a partnership with China’s Ocean University and Chinese investors leading to an expansion of the Marineland campus.
Marineland is the only city in the U.S. where the human population is exceeded by the dolphin population. It’s also home for one of the world’s leading facilities for student instruction in the field of marine microbiology. China and several other southeast Asian countries have a large aquaculture industry, raising shrimp clams and fish for domestic and export markets. China’s industry alone is measured in the billions of dollars. Yet the world’s understanding of what constitutes marine health is limited. "We don’t know what defines a healthy dolphin," says Anderson. He adds that many aquaculture ventures are concentrated with only one species. "They need diversity so that one pathogen doesn’t wipe them out."
The plan is to bring in Chinese investment dollars, combine them with matching funds from Florida University’s Cortelis Fund and build a new marine microbiology research facility at Whitney Lab’s Marineland campus. Both research and teaching would be expanded. Beneficiaries of the project would be the world’s aquaculture industry and attractions like Sea World but would also include humans. Marine life can act as sentinels for pathogens which may affect humans.
Anderson foresees a $7 million investment plus $7 million in matching grant money to fund the $14 million research facility. The first two steps toward a joint venture between Whitney Lab (part of the University of Florida) and China were accomplished during the May visit. Both the Chinese government and the Ocean University of China bought into the concept.
The products of the marine research would be marketed by the joint venture with the University of Florida and investors sharing any profits. An estimated four additional faculty positions and additional students would have a positive effect on the area economy.
Enterprise Flagler is coordinating efforts to schedule potential investor visits later this year. These investors will be looking well beyond Marineland. The reciprocal Chinese visits have already uncovered interest by various Chinese industries in Flagler County.
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