Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Marine research facility in Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Dauphin Island Sea Lab is a marine research center on an island off the Alabama coast. The exhibition hall displays sea creatures from Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, including rays, sharks, and other species found in the local waters.

The site was established in 1971 on former military grounds that once housed a radar station. The transformation from a military facility to a research and education center shows how the land found a new purpose.

The lab serves as a place where visitors can encounter the creatures living in local waters and learn about the diversity found in the bay. People come here to connect with marine biology and understand why protecting these habitats matters to the region.

The Estuarium sits at the east end of Dauphin Island, beside Fort Gaines, on grounds once used by the US Air Force's 693rd Radar Squadron. Inside, the 10,000-square-foot Exhibit Hall is laid out in four sections, from the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta to the Northern Gulf of Mexico, and a Living Marsh Boardwalk extends the visit outdoors. The Rays of the Bay touch tank, opened in March 2013, holds 6,400 gallons.

Rays of the Bay opened in March 2013 as a 6,400 US gallon touch tank holding six sets of four ray and skate species native to the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay, among them the Southern stingray, Cownose ray and Atlantic stingray. Visitors reach into the shallow water to feel the animals pass beneath their fingers.