r/newfoundland • u/New_Fishing_ • 3d ago
Underground window in OSC? (Below)
I see lots of chatter around Below, mostly actors, writing, and resulting tourism, but I have a burning question that is completely unrelated: does the Ocean Sciences Centre have an underground viewing window into the ocean? Or is it some kind of flume tank? You see it twice, once when Barry is smashing his head against the window, and then again when the doctor returns to OSC and finds all her samples thawing.
It seemed like the water was implied to be ocean, but I suspect if this location was real, and actually in the OSC, it'd just be a tank. I do see a "17m flume tank with sediment tray" listed on a MUN page about equipment at the OSC. Anyone know anything about it?
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u/Luddites_Unite 3d ago
I did work in there a few times and there is no underwater window like that. The rest of it is all in there, including that small black spiral staircase which is in the mechanical room but no underwater window. The building is actually quite a bit above the water
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u/Successful-Gift8636 3d ago edited 3d ago
I saw a BTS photo on Instagram or somewhere of them shooting this with window frame and greenscreen on the outside, when the shot pulls back in the ocean that looks pretty CGI. I don't know the building but I'm guessing the inside was partially a set and they shot exteriors there
edit - fingers crossed there's a blu ray release with behind the scenes extras, those are rare these days as everything has gone to streaming, but I love that stuff and would jump at the chance to buy it
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u/uncertain_seaweeds 3d ago
There is no underground window at the OSC (I work there). There is a flume tank but it's rarely full, only when experiments are actively being run, and would be pretty unlikely to look like a window outside.
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u/LOUD-AF 3d ago
Off topic question for you. Have you ever handled Ambergris? I think I may have a decent sized chunk which I found some time ago. Might it have some scientific value in your field of study?
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u/uncertain_seaweeds 3d ago
I haven't! I don't study whales but that sounds super cool, maybe someone at the OSC or MUN biology would be interested!
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u/el_di_ess 3d ago
I gotta ask since you work there. Is the elevator as sketchy as it seemed? I was there years ago for an old job and had to move stuff up a few floors. I thought I was going to die in that thing.
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u/uncertain_seaweeds 3d ago
Lol yes it's super sketchy!! We are not allowed to go in it anymore, it's for moving supplies only (thank goodness)
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u/Suitable_Zone_6322 Newfoundlander 3d ago
Do they drain and fill that thing regularly?? That's a lot of water...
I've only ever seen it full, but Ive only ever been there when it was in active use.
Sometimes I think I should book a campus tour just to be nosey... I could be a prospective student...
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u/uncertain_seaweeds 3d ago
The OSC is one of few labs in Canada with flowing seawater, so we have pretty much unlimited access to water so it isn't a problem to fill/ drain tanks as needed. Some of the aquaculture research there has pretty large tanks that cycle water constantly to keep fish healthy.
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u/Suitable_Zone_6322 Newfoundlander 3d ago
Really??? Did not know that... that's pretty neat.
Any chance the intake is located over behind the white hills? Behind DFO/the RCMP?
There's some sort of pump house by itself on the coast there, I always assumed it was related the DFO building, but it also seemed odd they'd need that much sea water.
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u/uncertain_seaweeds 2d ago
Nope, it's right by the shore at the OSC. No idea what that might be!
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u/Suitable_Zone_6322 Newfoundlander 2d ago
Wait.
We're talking about different tanks, that's my fault.
I'm talking about the flume tank at MI, which has viewing windows, and also probably why seawater on demand was surprising to me.
https://www.mi.mun.ca/facilities/flumetank/
Didn't know there was another at OSC, have only been inside maybe once (been there many times, used to take visitors down to see the seals and the view)
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u/abnormalRetard 3d ago
I have not seen below but they don't have a subsea window that i know of. They do have a pumphouse intake going out into the water to supply the tanks with water. The arrow shows the pumphouse intake
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u/rainbowsquids 3d ago
It's been a few years since I worked there, but there was nothing like that at the time! The closest I know of is the viewing window at the fluvarium lol..
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u/LOUD-AF 3d ago
I remember the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre was surrounded by something of a moat at it's base where you could actually look down from a walkway and see some very large fish swimming. I always imagined there was some way to observe the fish from the building's basement. Some years later the fish mysteriously disappeared. Any NAFC vets around to offer some insight about the feature?
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u/Suitable_Zone_6322 Newfoundlander 3d ago edited 3d ago
I've never been clear on what a "flume" is, but said tank is at the Marine Institute on Ridge Road, walk in the main entrance turn right (its probably not publically accessible other than if they're hosting an event)
Big swimming pool sort of thing with a sandy bottom.
There's giant observation window on one side, and a viewing room with seating for 150.
In addition to science things, they use it annually for the highschool rov competitions.
Not to be confused with the wave tank, which is another big swimming pool sort of thing, located on the main campus, brown building across from the student center.
There's actually a lot of cool stuff at MI that you'll probably never get to see.
Pro-tip, tell them you're a prospective student, and book campus tour.
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u/New_Fishing_ 2d ago
They list a flume tank on the list of equipment at the OSC specifically! I was actually one of the ROV kids when I was in high school and have been to the MI flume tank many times lol. They also have an acoustics tank at MI! My next best guess would have been an MI location pretended in as OSC, but it sounds like this window in particular was green screen & man-made set.
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u/stevonl 3d ago
Glad it wasn't only me who noticed that. I remember going there for several field trips but don't remember that window.