UW students don’t have to travel oceans away to study marine biology, because they have a top-notch facility a ferry ride away on San Juan Island. At the Friday Harbor Laboratories they can get their feet wet in tide pools, learn why sea anemones reproduce asexually or just escape the distractions of Seattle.

The labs are affiliated with the UW and are situated at the entrance to Friday Harbor, a one-theater port town without stoplights. Students living at the labs access the biologically diverse, relatively pollution-free waters of the surrounding San Juans, an opportunity rivaled by few institutions across the nation, said Ken Sebens, director of Friday Harbor Laboratories.

“We are a bit different than other university labs,” he said. “They may have a large ship to travel distances, but we work very closely with the surrounding area.”

Sebens attributed the labs’ uniqueness to a couple of factors. They use unfiltered seawater, encouraging larval growth. Many students and researchers from around the world study there, giving students the opportunity to learn with colleagues, and many simply enjoy the aesthetic beauty of the San Juan Islands.

Shanna Hanes, an Auburn University graduate student, was scanning the beach near the labs looking for a sea anemone called Anthopleura. She had been up most of the night in the labs waiting for the species to spawn. Having had no luck, Hanes was looking for more anemones to replicate the process that night.

“The course I am in is an evolution and development class, so I am interested in the sexual and reproductive process,” Hanes said. “If you induce spawning, they will release their gametes into the water. … However, the sperm are being lazy and not fertilizing the eggs, so I need to collect more anemones.”

Hanes showed off the labs’ indoor holding tanks, where she was keeping her anemones. She demonstrated how Anthopleura reproduce asexually — not involving the fusion of sperm and eggs — pointing to an anemone that was ripping itself into two new creatures.

Talking hurriedly over the sound of gurgling holding tanks, Hanes showed a visible excitement about her work.

“We’ve created an environment where it is exciting to learn,” said Billie Swalla, associate professor of biology at the labs. “There is peer pressure to be intelligent. You’ll hear, ‘I’m going to go back to the lab. Are you?’ from many of the students and researchers.”

Swalla said it was difficult not to be inspired by the environment of the San Juan Islands. Because the distractions of Seattle are nonexistent, she often goes to the labs just to write.

“It is really great, and I’m lucky to do work here,” said Alex Hart, a UW biology graduate student who has spent the past four summers at the labs. “Meeting people from around the world enriches my experience.”

Galina Pavlova arrived from Russia last October to study the behavior and nervous system of the sea slug Tritonia.

Hart enjoys living in a close community with other researchers and faculty, describing it as a constant learning experience. Faculty members are almost always available, even on the weekends, Hart said. She was at the labs on a Sunday, researching the effects of algae on herbivores, like sea snails, in tide pools.

“Classes are all day, every day and half-day on Saturday,” Sebens said. “But this is what makes the labs unique. Students are always together with faculty, and this provides one-on-one contact, which is important for students going into research.”

Even free time seems to be associated with school.

“It is like you are eating, living and sleeping classes,” said Ken Halanych, a professor of biology from Auburn University.

However, the lab is not as cloistered from the outside world as it may appear. Hart is currently involved with the National Science Foundation K-12 education program. She works with educators at local San Juan Island schools to help teach marine biology.

The students aren’t always hovering over microscopes or counting lazy anemone sperm, either.

“Many of the researchers and faculty are part of a co-rec softball team called the Sea Sluggers,” Hart said. “Sometimes I go off the island to go hiking or go to the beaches on San Juan.”

The islands offer an array of distractions and are too close to vacation spots in canada.

“There’s biking, kayaking, boats to rent and the ferry to Canada,” Sebens said. “But most tend to spend their weekends at the labs.”

Surprisingly, Sebens said the labs aren’t filled to capacity and he would like to see more students taking courses there.

UW students pay the same amount of tuition and the labs’ dorms are comparable in price to those on the Seattle campus. Dining at the labs is actually roughly equivalent to the lowest-priced option on campus, but with more food, Sebens said.

“There is also excellent financial aid,” he said. “It handles about half the students that study here. There is also the adopt-a-student program that funds about 20 students a year.”

A lack of information about the labs keeps students out of the know. People don’t quite get the word, Sebens said. He predicted students in the new marine biology minor will study at the labs.

“We are open to anyone that wants to come,” he said. “Field trips from UW often come up. Any class that wants to come can.”

Any UW student with a piqued interest in hands-on marine biology doesn’t have to look any further than the UW’s own backyard at Friday Harbor Labs. Sebens said the labs would be more than willing to accommodate interested students.

The UW has had a research laboratory on San Juan Island since the turn of the 20th century. It was originally located across the bay from its current location and inhabitants slept in tents.

The labs have now grown to cover 484 acres and offer 16 courses, the most in its history. The labs also control biological preserves at False Bay and Argyle Lagoon on San Juan Island, Cedar Rock on Shaw Island and some other areas. The labs continue to expand, and two new graduate dormitories may be built with funding provided by the National Science Foundation and the UW.