Transcript Deliverables Poster - Canadian Healthy Oceans Network

2008-2014
Into the Unknown: Exploring Marine Biodiversity in Frontier Areas
1. The Challenge
3. Who We Are
Canada is an ocean nation; it
has 16% of the world’s
coastlines and the largest
territorial sea in the world.
Many stressors (climate
change, habitat
modification, natural
resource exploitation)
affect ocean health.
CHONe is a university –
government research partnership
that addresses questions on
conservation and sustainable
ocean use.
The team includes about 140
researchers from across Canada
Taking samples of biodiversity and
and focuses on 3 interrelated
abundance of ice algae
research themes:
 Who/where: How many
and what types of
microbes and animals
live in our oceans and
where do we find them?
Studying kelp beds on the coast of Nova Scotia
We have relatively little information on Canada’s vast
oceans and what lives in it, and our scientific
community is small.
 How: How are groups of
animals connected?
Rockfish take shelter in deep water corals on
Learmonth Bank, British Columbia
 So what: How do
plants, animals and
stressors influence
how the marine
environment works?
Feather stars form part of the high biodiversity on Canada’s
Pacific Coast
Oceans …
 Provide 95% of the livable
environment on earth
 Host the greatest breadth
of species diversity on our
planet - between 500,000
and 10 million species
 Provide significant food
resources (e.g. fish,
shellfish, kelp)
North Pacific rockfish grow
slowly and mature at a late
age. Many species are
vulnerable to fishing, and
declined to the point that
Canada now lists them as a
species of special concern.
Research Vessel CCGS Amundsen
Findings:
 Many new and previously
unknown animals
discovered
 The number and type of
animals on the seafloor
influence the nutrients in
the water
Discovery of a new marine worm
(polychaete) species
4. Exploring the Ocean Floor
The number and types of bottom-dwelling
animals that live in any one place can depend
on how rough the seafloor is.
A rougher seafloor provides more living and
feeding spaces and can support more species.
Our research shows that RCAs can
be effective in protecting rockfish,
sheltering comparatively larger
populations.
This project is helping to recover inshore
rockfish.
Isabelle Côté, Ryan Cloutier
6. Tracing Lobster Movements
8. Healthy Oceans
The dispersal of larval lobsters is
necessary to connect adult
populations. Larvae are carried by
ocean currents, but may alter their
dispersal direction, distance and
speed by swimming.
CHONe’s research helps to:
Larval lobsters from St.
Findings:
George's Bay, Nova Scotia
 Identification of factors influencing
larval lobster swimming
 Improved ability to predict
larval settlement
Video-laser scan of rough seafloor: a deep-sea
Farrea occa sponge covered in rockfish and seastars.
Exploring marine biodiversity along the Arctic corridor
 Help regulate climate change
 Understand the vulnerability
and the resilience of the
living sea
 Protect highly productive
areas to maintain species
diversity
Deployment of a mooring in the
Beaufort Sea
 Predict how marine systems
and populations can adapt to
change
 Suggest strategies for life in
a changing ocean
with only sparse animals.
Sea snail in estuary of Magdalen Islands,
Québec
Using an underwater robot
with a video camera and
attaching a novel laser
tool, we are able to explore
the ocean floor, count and
measure animals, and
measure the roughness of
the seafloor.
Collection net for larval lobster samples
Retrieving net with lobster sample
This work can help fisheries managers
develop strategies to protect valuable
species such as lobsters.
Remotely operated vehicle ROPOS with
camera and laser attached to the top front
Deep ocean floor community off the coast of
Nova Scotia
In response, the federal
government has
established Rockfish
Conservation Areas
(RCAs) along the British
Columbia coast.
Rockfish habitat
Heike Link, Virginie Roy, Philippe Archambault,
Processing seafloor samples aboard Canada’s
research vessel Hudson
Rockfish
Getting ready for a scuba diving survey
Video-laser scan of flat seafloor: deep-sea sand
 Support diverse industries
(e.g. fisheries, energy,
transport)
This tool helps locate priority areas for
species that need protection.
Cherisse Du Preez, Verena Tunnicliffe
Sea pig on the continental slope off the west coast of Canada
The Canadian Arctic Ocean rivals other Canadian
oceans in the number and types of plants and
animals that live in it. Many stressors will affect
this last near-pristine ocean habitat. We urgently
need to know more about what
organisms live there and what
they do.
This work has helped identify many
ecologically important areas.
Shallow seafloor community in coastal waters of New
Brunswick
 Produce half the oxygen
we breathe
7. Protecting Rockfish
Life on the ocean floor of the NorthWest Passage
Study of biodiversity changes due to
mussel farming
2. Why Should We Care about the Ocean?
5. Exploring the Arctic Ocean
Photo Credits: P. Archambault, I. Côté, R. Daigle, C. Du Preez, M. Gautier, P. Lawton, H. Link,
A. Metaxas, F. Olivier, E. Pedersen, A. Piot, ROPOS, R. Scheibling, P. Snelgrove, R. Stanley,
M.Strong and M.-I. Buzeta, V. Tunnicliffe
 Ensure
sustainability for
all life on Earth
Biodiversity at Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents
Marine Protected Area, BC
Ryan Stanley, Eric Pederson, Remi Daigle, Paul Snelgrove, Anna Metaxas, Fred Guichard
Major Funding Partners
Contact
Canadian Healthy Oceans Network
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, A1C 5S7
Tel: 709-864-6797 Fax: 709-864-6983
web: www.chone.ca