BC Coastal Marine Sciences Workshop
Victoria, February 16 & 17, 2015

Over two days in mid-February, Ocean Networks Canada hosted a Coastal Marine Sciences Workshop where more than 30 active researchers in B.C.’s marine science community came together for an open and progressive discussion on future directions for coastal oceanography.

The year-end is a fine time to reflect on highlights from the past twelve months in ocean science, technology and learning at Ocean Networks Canada.

In the December 2014 newsletter, we hope you’ll enjoy some of our favorite stories:

Ocean Networks Canada’s Strait of Georgia ferry monitoring program officially expanded operations to a second ferry, the Spirit of Vancouver Island, in October 2014. This ferry, part of BC Ferries fleet, connects Vancouver Island and the mainland transiting between Victoria, BC, and Vancouver, BC.The main oceanographic interest of this route is that the ferry travels through more saline, oceanic conditions on the western part of the route through to fresher Fraser River influenced waters on the eastern part of the route.

Dr. Richard Dewey, Associate Director of Science reports temperature increases and concerns for marine species along the B.C. coast.  Off the coast of Vancouver Island, data from the NEPTUNE observatory’s Folger Passage site is recording warmer ocean temperatures.  “The whole ecosystem is impacted by these changes,” he said in a recent interview with CBC.

See: Record North Pacific temperatures threatening B.C. marine species 

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), an initiative of the University of Victoria, has further expanded its footprint across Canada with the launch of a new collaboration with the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE).

ONC is a world-leader in ocean observing technology supported by Oceans 2.0, its comprehensive data management system developed to provide a vital link between sensors and users around the world. With advanced observatories on the Pacific coast and in the Canadian Arctic, today’s launch on the Atlantic coast establishes ONC’s operations from sea to sea to sea.

At 10:16 am on October 16, officially over 25 million people worldwide will practice how to DROP, COVER, AND HOLD ON! during the world’s largest earthquake drill. In 2008, the “Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills” began in California and today span the globe—from Italy to Alaska to Samoa. 

Ocean Networks Canada staff will be joining an estimated 720,000 British Columbians for the “Great British Columbia Shake Out.”

Understanding how the oceans work is hard, because we almost always don't have enough measurements to even know what the ocean is doing, never mind why. One of the exciting things in the VENUS Observatory expansion plan was the installation of a radar system that was specially designed to provide estimates of surface currents over a large region covering the Fraser plume. What's the Fraser plume?

An important part of climate change research is measuring and predicting the magnitude of ecosystem response. The northeast Pacific is a global hotspot for future oxygen loss driven by climate change. Overall oxygen content in the oceans will drop if sea surface temperatures continue to rise because warmer sea water holds less oxygen. If oxygen levels drop too low (hypoxia), animals will have to migrate, adapt or die – but how do you measure these thresholds for animal life?

Each year, ONC teams travel to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut for an important maintenance expedition to clean and upgrade the observatory infrastructure and instruments. It’s also a great opportunity to reconnect with the residents of Cambridge Bay.

August 23, 2014 – Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mrs. Laureen Harper and key government representatives gathered dockside with UVic President Jamie Cassels and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) President Kate Moran to view firsthand the latest instrumentation that showcases Canadian science and technology in the Arctic.

Dr. Miriam Römer, a research scientist with the MARUM Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, spent the past 3 months working with Ocean Networks Canada staff scientists analyzing a large and disparate collection of data from Clayoquot Slope.

Over the last week in June, Ocean Network Canada’s three major advisory groups met in Victoria to help chart the course of the world’s most advanced cabled ocean observatories.

In Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry is hosting a two-day summit on the problems facing the world’s oceans including acidification, sustainable fisheries and marine pollution. 

An unusual SONAR data plot was generated from COVIS (Cabled Observatory Vent Imaging Sonar) data on 20 May 2014, as the remotely operated vehicle ROPOS flew above Grotto hydrothermal vent in Main Endeavour Field (depth: 2195 m).