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Coastal communities are facing a variety of rapid environmental changes. Real-time data from cabled observatories can be used by community members to make informed decisions about their coastal and marine resources.

In March 2016, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) continued to push the innovation envelope by deploying three community observatories along the British Columbia coast: in Campbell River, Kitamaat Village, and Prince Rupert (Figure 1). After a year in operation, this first anniversary review celebrates the successes, challenges, and future for ONC’s community observatories.

Figure 1. Map of ONC’s community observatories.

What are community observatories?

Community observatories are scaled-down versions of ONC’s major observatories—NEPTUNE and VENUS (Figure 1). These smaller installations are simpler to deploy in remote areas while allowing for all of the benefits that come from conducting year-round, continuous undersea monitoring.

ONC’s Arctic installation at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut was the first community observatory deployed in August 2012. The success of this observatory—​and the community relationships it continues to foster—​has provided valuable learning and experience that make additional installations possible.

Figure 2. The first community observatory platform was deployed in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut in 2012.

Prior to installation, ONC engaged with the local communities to share scientific and Indigenous ways of knowing the ocean, assess their ocean science needs, and secure permission to install the instruments. In all locations, the observatories include underwater cameras, hydrophones, weather stations, as well as conductivity, temperature, salinity, and oxygen sensors.

"Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow." ~ William Pollard

Campbell River Community Observatory

Figure 3. Highlights from the Campbell River community observatory installation March 2016

The Campbell River community observatory is located within Kwakwaka'wakw and Coast Salish territories at the southern end of Discovery Channel, a significant shipping route for vessels traveling north from the Strait of Georgia. This narrow inland passage is notorious for its strong and unpredictable currents; the water flows in from both the north and south end of Vancouver Island, meeting just south of the small city of Campbell River.

Figure 4. ONC’s display near the Campbell River community observatory site.

Kitamaat Village

Kitamaat Village is located at the head of Douglas Channel and is home to the Haisla people. The Kitamaat Village community observatory is located at the Haisla Public Works Waste Treatment compound along the waterfront in the village.

Figure 5. Kitamaat Village launch event at the school.

The region surrounding Kitamaat Village is witnessing a substantial increase in industrial development. Before new waterfront development begins, it is important to have a baseline of the local marine environment. These data will provide independent and unbiased observations of any changes to the Kitamaat Village marine ecosystem, while offering the community a new window into their local marine resources.

Figure 6. Flatfish in Kitamaat Village shows why Douglas Channel is so good for fishing!

Prince Rupert

The Prince Rupert community observatory is located within Ts’msyen Territory on British Columbia’s north coast. The Ts'msyen name for Prince Rupert—​Kxeen—​means "foam on the waters". As North America’s fastest growing port for trans-Pacific trade, the Port of Prince Rupert is working collaboratively with the community to understand the ocean.

Figure 7. The Prince Rupert community observatory is spread over two sites. Both Digby Island and Ridley Island have oceanographic radar systems that triangulate to produce surface current maps that can extend out 20 to 30 kms. An X-Band radar (WaMos), also on Ridley Island, produces a shorter range but higher resolution picture of wave heights, currents, direction, and speed.

Innovation means overcoming challenges

Installing ocean sensors in new locations is always complex and surprising because the ocean is the new frontier. ONC is the first to explore the depths of the northeast Pacific Ocean in real time. Deploying Internet-connected infrastructure and sensors in remote locations with limited connectivity can be a challenge.

Figure 8. Strong currents flow in from both the north and south end of Vancouver Island, where they meet just south of Campbell River.

During this first year, data collection has seen periodic lapses while the ONC team adapts to the unique features of each location. Every challenge is an opportunity for further innovation.

Figure 9. An example of biofouling after a year in the ocean. The accumulation of organic matter on the instruments can cause them to malfunction.

• To mitigate the impact of Campbell River’s fast-moving tumultuous waters, an underwater “shield” was installed to protect the ocean sensors from logs and other debris. Unfortunately, this tent-like structure quickly filled up with sediment, so the first installation needed to be improved. The second installation no longer has a shield so now we see very fast moving water at certain times of day (Figure 8).
• Biofouling is a common and costly problem in oceanography. A malfunctioning transformer on the remote Digby Island sat idle due to the buildup of organic matter.
• Due to the space constraints of Campbell River’s observatory platform, a conductivity, temperature, and density sensor was attached and deployed in a horizontal position. When the sensor failed to provide reliable data, it presented an opportunity for new insights about reducing bio-fouling. ONC discovered that when deployed vertically, this sensor is exposed to the constantly moving current, which keeps it 'clean’ of the green algae bio solids that accumulate on static underwater objects.
• The realities of deploying complex Internet-dependent infrastructure is always a learning opportunity. In Prince Rupert and Kitamaat Village, a weak cellular signal limited the amount of instruments that could be functioning at any one time. This meant that EITHER the hydrophone OR the video camera was transmitting data in real-time. Regardless, both instruments gather and locally store continuous data, so the data are uploaded to Oceans 2.0 to create a continuous time series at a later date.
• In Kitamaat Village, the pan and tilt camera failed soon after deployment. A new camera will be in place in April 2017.

"Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough." ~Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal and Tesla Motors.

What's next?

After a decade of deep ocean research, the ONC Operations team understands that a new location or innovative product always involves an initial adjustment phase to work out the kinks in the system. In April 2017, the community observatories along the British Columbia coast will undergo their first annual maintenance overhaul to ensure that they continue to gather clean, reliable data.

State of the Ocean plots

Moving forward, the data from the observatories provide us with a continuous ‘state of the ocean’ time series, similar to the 10 year VENUS plot (Figure 10).

Figure 10. Over a decade of continuous ocean data from the Saanich Inlet.

Educating youth

In 2016 and 2017, ONC invited youth and teachers from the three new community observatory towns to attend its annual Ocean Sense Symposium. This provides an opportunity for the next generation to understand the value of these community observatories and what the data are telling them about their local marine environments.

Coming soon to Port Alberni

ONC is excited to announce that a new community observatory will be deployed in the City of Port Alberni in June 2017 (Figure 11).

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Figure 11. The proposed community observatory site in Port Alberni.

“The Port Alberni community observatory is important in terms of discovering more about the ocean and inlet that is our marine backyard (Figure 12). It will afford the opportunity for people—​locally and from afar—​to learn more about this critical ecosystem. We anticipate that its very presence will increase the number of visitors to our area. The City of Port Alberni thanks Ocean Networks Canada for being such a great partner in science.” ~Mike Ruttan, Mayor of Port Alberni.

Stay tuned for updates on these and other community observatories coming to a coast near you.

Figure 12. Seals visit the Campbell River observatory