Progress report for
Oceanographic monitoring in the Northeast Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic
Achievement at a glance
Ocean Networks Canadas (ONC) monitoring of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic continues to increase over time. To date, ONC has one Regional Observatory off the west coast of Vancouver Island (NEPTUNE), one Coastal Observatory in Saanich Inlet and the Strait of Georgia (VENUS), and five Community Observatories, four of which are in the Pacific (Campbell River, China Creek, Kitamaat Village and Prince Rupert) and one in the Arctic (Cambridge Bay). Additionally, surface waters are being monitored by mobile sensors in partnership with BC ferries, Indigenous Communities and non-for-profit organizations. All the observatories collect a number of different oceanographical, physical, chemical, geophysical and biological variables in different ecosystems ranging from coastal ecosystems to midocean ridges. Our data timeseries vary depending on the observatory. Some variables from VENUS have been monitored for 13 years, while NEPTUNEs timeseries are 10 years long. Although Community Observatories have shorter timeseries than VENUS and NEPTUNE they are equally important and provide valuable data. Cambridge Bay has been monitoring Arctic waters since 2012 while Campbell River, Kitamaat Village and Prince Rupert have collected data since 2016. Finally, surface waters of the Salish Sea have been monitored since 2012. All of these data have and continue to provide critical information on serious environmental issues such as climate change, ocean acidification and sea level rise and how these are changing over time.Challenges faced in implementation
Given the high number of sensors and their high sampling frequencies, the volume of data collected is extremely large, while formats vary from scalar data to hydrophone and video recordings. As a result, maintaining high quality data standards and detailed metadata for all of our products is a continuous challenge. Another challenge has been to design effective tools for data access for a broad range of users and multiple data types. Over the last year, ONC, with input from its community partners, has developed a user-friendly data portal where data can be easily previewed, plotted and downloaded. Instrument deployment and maintenance is a third constant challenge faced by the organization. All deep-sea sensors must be deployed with help of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) during ship expeditions while coastal sensors are maintained by smaller vessels or commercial divers. These operations are limited by weather and equipment availability; for example, strong currents and high swell can interrupt operations.Beneficiaries
There are multiple beneficiaries from this commitment, including researchers, students, educators, citizen scientists, decision-makers and local communities. These users are supported by freely available data through the Oceans 2.0 data portal which has been accessed by users from 143 different countries. Scientists benefit from ONCs expanding network and data archives by interpreting and disseminating knowledge through scientific presentations and publications. As a result, decision-makers have access to high quality data to implement evidence-based local, regional and national policies for ocean stewardship. Educators (K -12 and post-secondary) and students benefit from the data product and sensor deployment increase since some of these data have been built into data packages, lessons and laboratory material for teaching purposes and to meet specific learning outcomes. Citizen scientists benefit by searching amongst data products to visualize data and learn about the ocean. Finally, and most importantly, through partnerships, local Indigenous communities are positively benefiting from ONCs community engaged program through Community Observatories and Community Fishers. These communities are closely monitoring how local waters are changing and thus can create detailed mitigation plans to keep their communities safe and adjust resource exploitation as necessary. ONC supports knowledge exchange and collaboration between all of these diverse user groups.