In September 2017, Ocean Networks Canada's (ONC) seismic sensors collected real-time information on two recent and very different earthquakes: one distant earthquake off Mexico’s west coast and a much smaller regional event near Ucluelet, British Columbia. Both seismic events provide insight into British Columbia’s earthquake early warning system, currently in development.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation has supported ONC since 2002. In 2014, Transport Canada, WED, and IBM Canada wisely invested in a vision to take ONC’s decade of deep sea ocean observing science, data, and infrastructure to the next level. After three years of hard work, collaboration, and innovation, this timely investment bore fruit in April 2017 when ONC successfully delivered an impressive suite of Smart Ocean™ Systems infrastructure, services and data product prototypes, positioning Canada as a global leader in ocean technology, data management and responsible ocean management.

Every year ONC sets out to sea in the northeast Pacific for a few weeks, equipped with remotely operated vehicles (ROV), ocean observing instruments and platforms, and a long list of to-do’s. Working around the clock, the crack team—scientists, engineers, ROV pilots, navigators, communicators, and ship’s crew—contend with unpredictable weather and the mighty abyss to maintain and upgrade ONC’s deep sea ocean observing infrastructure. Wiring the Abyss is a critical undertaking to help us #knowtheocean, and no-one even gets wet.

As we celebrate Canada’s 150 years of confederation, we must do so with full knowledge and pride that our country has been home to Indigenous peoples with advanced governing structures for tens of thousands of years. To kick off Canada’s sesquicentennial on the west coast, ONC channeled #Canada150 celebrations into the deep sea during its most recent expedition aboard exploration vessel (E/V) Nautilus.

Did you know, Canada initiated World Oceans Day 25 years ago? In 1992 the Ocean Institute of Canada and the International Centre for Ocean Development proposed the concept of a World Ocean Day at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Since it was officially endorsed by the United Nations, 8 June has evolved into a growing annual celebration of our global ocean. The 25th anniversary of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to look in the rear-view mirror to see how far we’ve come and to consider our future, which depends on the health of the great salty engine that drives and supports life on Earth.

Understanding whether fish communicate using sound is of growing interest and importance. Although many fish species are soniferous⎯they naturally produce sounds⎯we know very little about how and why this happens. Among the approximately 400 known marine fish species swimming in British Columbia waters, only 22 have been reported to be soniferous, although many more species are suspected to produce sound.

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, 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. After a year in operation, this first anniversary review celebrates the successes, challenges, and future for ONC’s community observatories.

For the first time in Canada, a triple glider project has successfully mapped out critical gray whale habitat off the west coast of Vancouver Island. While previous missions have deployed one or two gliders, this Whales, Habitat, and Listening (WHaLe) project—funded by the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction, and Response
(MEOPAR)—is the first to fly three coordinated gliders.

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In November 2016, ONC scientists co-authored a publication in Deep-Sea Research II on the effects of deep-sea bottom trawling on seafloor marine life, already stressed by the naturally low oxygen waters of the north Pacific. This is the first study to measure the effects on the fauna living on the soft-sediment seabed of Vancouver Island’s continental shelf and slope.

2017 began with an icy snap: in early January, British Columbia experienced the first really cold weather in several years. Starting in late 2013, wind and weather patterns over the northeast Pacific shifted, evolving into what has become known as the warm blob. The surface temperatures of this massive region of the northeast Pacific Ocean climbed as much as three degrees Celcius above the seasonal average.

While global temperature tracking is suggesting 2016 will follow 2014 and 2015 as the warmest year on record, the effects are acute and immediate in the Canadian Arctic where climate change has already warmed more than twice the global average. This warming is having a dramatic effect on Arctic sea-ice, with reports of both low areal coverage and low total thickness.

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) applauds the Government of Canada for putting the ocean at the top of its agenda.

Yesterday, 7 November 2016, the Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $1.5 billion national Oceans Protection Plan that outlines measures to implement world-leading ocean safety and monitoring systems and strengthen engagement with Indigenous and coastal communities. This historic initiative will protect Canada’s ocean and coastal ecosystems for generations to come.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is providing Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) with more than half a million dollars to organize its Pacific fisheries science, marine mammal and ocean data. This pilot project will use ONC’s powerful data management system, Oceans 2.0, to support science and make DFO data more open, accessible and user-friendly for their decision-making stakeholders, academia and Canadians. Oceans 2.0 is recognized by the International Council for Science as part of the World Data System.

Victoria is infamous for its practice of discharging screened, but otherwise untreated, municipal sewage into Juan de Fuca Strait. Starting in early 2013, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) has been partnering with Victoria’s Capital Regional District to help measure the impacts of their outfalls on the local marine environment.​