As shrinking sea ice ushers in a new era for arctic tourism, Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) newly expanded Cambridge Bay observatory becomes a vital tool for monitoring ocean health and marine safety.

Map of Ocean Networks Canada data sources and installations in the Arctic.

On 29 August, the cruise ship Crystal Serenity arrived in Cambridge Bay Nunavut, bringing 1600 passengers and crew to the tiny hamlet, temporarily doubling the population of about 1500 people. Read the CBC story.

According to ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador, Mia Otokiak, the massive cruise ship was too big to put into the Cambridge Bay harbour, forcing it to anchor at a place the locals call the “gravel pit".

Mia helped her uncle Noah sell his carvings to passengers at an art show, put on specially for the visitors. "The experience was something I hadn't expected!” says Mia. “Every single person I encountered from the ship—there were so many, I can't even count—was very nice and so curious about Cambridge Bay in general. I loved sharing knowledge from my community!"

Local carvings displayed at the Cambridge Bay art show for the Crystal Serenity passengers.

​ONC’s Cambridge Bay observatory has been in operation for 4 years, providing live real-time ocean monitoring using sensors that measure temperature, oxygen, salinity, sea ice, underwater noise, marine life, as well as underwater and onshore cameras and much more.

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ONC’s Cambridge Bay observatory platform connects over 20 ocean monitoring sensors to the Internet in real-time.

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A small ONC team was in Cambridge Bay from 21-28 August, maintaining and upgrading the observatory and building relationships with the community. Stay tuned for an update on the recently expanded Arctic Ocean monitoring system, made possible by support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.

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The ONC team worked with the crew of the research vessel Martin Bergmann to deploy the newly upgraded Cambridge Bay platform on 25 August 2016.