Biosphere 2 ocean. This is an underwater view of the ocean zone in the Biosphere 2 Center (B2C), Arizona, USA. The centre has several ecological zones, including a rainforest and a desert, which can all be seen on a guided tour of the facility. Research is conducted here, but the B2C is now also run as a tourist attraction. It recently celebrated its two millionth visitor (April 2004). Completed in 1991, Biosphere 2 was initially used to research sealed ecological systems, but early experiments involving humans encountered problems. It was then run by Columbia University from 1995- 2003. Biosphere 2 was named after the Earth, which is considered Biosphere 1.