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Today in Smithsonian History: July 10, 1980

The Smithsonian Tropical research Institute’s laboratories on Naos Island (Photographer unknown, via STRI)

July 10, 1980 The Naos Seawater System is inaugurated by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Director Dr. Ira Rubinoff, Panamanian President Dr. Aristides J. Royo Ruiz, Acting Smithsonian Secretary Phillip S. Hughes, and the Archbishop of Panama. The Naos Seawater System is a system of large tanks supplied with running seawater at the Pacific marine laboratory on Naos Island. This facility will permit a much greater variety of experimental work with marine organisms.

The Naos Marine Laboratory is the largest of STRI’s marine laboratories and provides an excellent opportunity for comparative studies between the Tropical Atlantic (Caribbean) and Eastern Pacific oceans. The facility is located on Naos Island,which is 4km from the Bridge of the Americas at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal.

Laboratory worker bending over bench with equipment

The labs on Naos Island include molecular biology facilities for all aspects of DNA work, including automated sequencing and microsatellite work. (Photo via STRI)

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives