Ocean Networks Canada - Cambridge Bay

Three weeks late: Cambridge Bay sea ice freeze-up 2020

kshoemak@uvic.ca — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 21:53:56 +0000

Figure 1. Sea ice forming on the shores of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) cabled observatory in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut has been gathering real-time oceanographic data since 2012. This year, the data reveals that sea ice freeze-up occurred on 27 October, the latest date in eight years of monitoring the Arctic Ocean. By comparison, since 2012 the mean or average date of freeze-up is 5 October, a full three weeks earlier than 2020.

Figure 2: This climatology plot shows eight years of seasonal variations in key marine observations. The different plot lines show individual years (grey), mean date (black), plus one standard deviation (red), minus one standard deviation (blue), and present year 2020 (magenta).

“The Arctic is experiencing more rapid climate change than regions at lower latitudes,” says ONC’s associate science director Richard Dewey. “Among the changes are a shrinking ice pack and an extended summer season. A long-standing prediction is that, with warmer temperatures and longer summers, sea-ice melt and sea-ice freeze-up would occur earlier and later in the year, respectively. We now have some direct evidence of this.”

Figure 3. Cambridge Bay sea ice draft (blue) and air temperature (red) during late Oct 2020.

The instrument used to measure the sea ice draft—the ice thickness below the surface—is an ASL Environmental Services shallow water ice profiler, which uses sonar and works like an inverted echo sounder (Figure 4).

Figure 4. ASL Environmental Services SWIP (shallow water ice profiler) installed on the Cambridge Bay observatory platform.

Figure 5. This State of the Ocean plot shows Cambridge Bay data for the entire history of ONC’s Arctic Ocean observatory, 2012-2020. Sea ice draft (yellow); oxygen (purple); density (blue); absolute salinity (green); temperature (red).

Expedition 2019: Highlights Story Map

duncanlowrie@uvic.ca — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 19:36:10 +0000

Click here for the full screen interactive experience.

Maintaining the Arctic’s Internet-connected ocean is no picnic

kshoemak@uvic.ca — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 21:15:22 +0000

Monitoring the rapidly changing Arctic is vital to climate science. However installing and maintaining real-time ocean observing infrastructure in Canada’s remote and icy north is complex. Every instrument must be designed to withstand sub-freezing temperatures on land, in the water, and⎯for most of the year⎯under sea ice. Access to a reliable high-speed Internet connection in remote regions can be challenging, and that’s assuming you’ve figured out how to transport the specialized high-tech gear thousands of kilometres to the Arctic circle in the first place.

After five years of gathering real-time Arctic Ocean and sea ice data, Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) Cambridge Bay community observatory infrastructure received a major overhaul in September 2017. In addition to annual maintenance, the original network equipment and servers were replaced and all dock electronics and shore instruments were relocated to a new secure shore station.

Figure 1. After spending six weeks in transit from Victoria to Cambridge Bay, this container was transformed into ONC’s new Arctic shore station.

Introducing new ocean observing infrastructure to the remote Arctic takes time and planning. A three-metre container (Figure 1) spent six weeks and close to 10,000 kilometres in transit, travelling first by truck from Victoria, British Columbia to Valleyfield, Quebec, and then by barge through the Northwest Passage to Cambridge Bay, where the shore station was installed with power and Internet near the Arctic Ocean shoreline.

Figure 2. The ONC team installing the camera on the new shore station.

Once the container was installed and connected, the ONC team relocated all dock electronics and shore instruments to the new shore station (Figure 2). The locked container provides both security and protection from the weather.

Figure 3. Observatory operations project manager Ryan Key replaces the five-year-old servers and network equipment in Cambridge Bay.

Computer hardware needs to be replaced every five years in any climate. Originally installed in 2012, all the servers and network equipment in the Cambridge Bay government building were replaced in 2017 (Figure 3).

Figure 4. Digging a trench through permafrost is hard work! This cable connects the underwater observatory to the shore station.

For real-time access to ocean observatory data 24/7, the underwater instruments also need be connected to both power and the Internet. The ONC team dug a trench through the permafrost and installed a new 50-metre fibre-optic cable that connects the new shore station to the existing subsea cable.

Figure 5. After a year of collecting real-time underwater Arctic data, the instrument platform is annually recovered with support from Canadian Coast Guard ship Martin Bergmann.

Every year, the ONC team pulls the underwater observatory out of 13 metres of water to clean, service, and maintain the two dozen instruments that collect Arctic Ocean data (Figures 5 and 6). Bio fouling is a common and costly problem in oceanography, as the accumulation of organic matter on the instruments can cause them to malfunction.

Figure 6. Improvisation is necessary in the Arctic when you can't just call in a trucking company to move your instrument platform for its annual maintenance overhaul.

In addition to deploying and maintaining ocean observing infrastructure, a rewarding and important part of ONC’s works involves engaging local youth and community members (Figure 7).

Figure 7. The ONC Learning Team develop classroom activities that provide opportunities for youth to learn about ocean tech, data, and science.

Figure 8. Cambridge Bay youth created an underwater time capsule that was attached to the underwater observatory. The time capsule will be pulled out of the water and opened in August 2018.

A highlight of this year’s youth engagement involved providing the local high school youth with the opportunity to conduct their own underwater experiments. Each student made sea ice predictions for the upcoming winter season, and marked their predicted sea ice freeze-up and break-up dates on a calendar which was placed in a water-tight tube. A series of classroom activities using borax crystals and a raw egg helped the students to develop theories about the fate of these substances after a year in the Arctic Ocean. The calendar, borax, and egg were all placed in the time capsule that was then attached to the underwater observatory prior to redeployment (Figure 8).

Figure 9. Several dozen Cambridge Bay community members attended ONC’s open house, co-hosted by POLAR Knowledge Canada in their newly completed Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) facility.

To bring the Cambridge Bay resident and research communities together, ONC hosted an open house at the newly completed Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) building (Figure 9). This well-attended event provided the entire Cambridge Bay community with an opportunity to learn more about ONC and our Cambridge Bay community observatory, and an update on new POLAR Knowledge Canada funded research projects, such as Safe Passage.

Figure 10. The ONC team pose aboard the Canadian Coast Guard ship Martin Bergmann in front of the newly cleaned and maintained observatory before redeploying the platform into 13 metres of water off Cambridge Bay.

After two weeks of hard and rewarding work, the ONC team redeployed the newly cleaned and maintained observatory (Figure 10), where it will collect real-time Arctic Ocean data (Figure 11) and help us understand climate change over the next year.

Figure 11. Five years of continuous Arctic Ocean data provides a benchmark to monitor the rapidly changing climate in the far north.

Check out the real-time data and video from the shore station on the Cambridge Bay observatory page.

Figure 12. Maintaining an ocean observatory in the Arctic is hard but rewarding work! The ONC team celebrate the successful completion of the 2017 annual Cambridge Bay maintenance expedition on Mount Pelee.

Ocean Network’s first Youth Science Ambassador passes the torch

kshoemak@uvic.ca — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 16:53:47 +0000

After working with Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) in Cambridge Bay, 20-year old Mia Otokiak has landed an exciting job to help protect Nunavut communities.

When ONC installed a community observatory in Cambridge Bay in 2012, fifteen-year-old Mia Otokiak was inspired to get involved and learn about the ocean that surrounds her tiny hamlet. Five years later (Figure 1), she is fulfilling her dream of pursuing a science career, and helping other young people do the same.

Figure 1. In 2016, Mia Otokiak attended ArcticNet in Vancouver as a panelist and co-presenter.

“I was first introduced to ONC when I was taking Grade 10 Biology,” says Mia. “Some ONC staff came to our class and asked us if we wanted to see an underwater observatory being installed. I had always wanted to be a marine biologist so I was interested right away. I wanted to learn more, to see Cambridge Bay from a different point of view, and that’s exactly what ONC helped me to do (Figure 2).”

Figure 2. In 2012, ONC deployed the Cambridge Bay observatory, engaging with the local community and schools. Mia Otokiak is fourth from right with her Grade 10 Biology classmates.

In 2016, ONC launched a new program to engage students, educators and the public in coastal areas served by ONC’s community observatories. Mia applied for the job and became ONC’s first Youth Science Ambassador (2016-17) facilitating program activities in her hometown. A key goal of this innovative program is to respectfully connect Indigenous knowledge, ONC data, and ocean science to help Canadians to #knowtheocean.

“Last year, I was involved with bringing students down to the Cambridge Bay dock to show them the most up-to-date underwater observatory and getting more students interested in ocean science, just like ONC did for me (Figure 3).”

Figure 3. Mia mentors Cambridge Bay youth interested in science and technology with a visit to the upgraded Cambridge Bay community observatory before it is redeployed in August 2016.

“Because of ONC, I’ve learned so many fascinating things about the ocean, which I had always wanted to learn about but never had the chance to, until now. To make it even better, I’ve passed all this information down to students of the same schools that I went to.”

During her year-long tenure as Arctic Youth Science Ambassador, Mia participated in classroom presentations, student mentoring, community events in her home town and two Ocean Science Symposia in Victoria, British Columbia. She also led a snow-monitoring program as part of the ONC-led POLAR Knowledge Canada research project Safe Passage, which aims to improve our understanding of sea-ice processes, especially those critical to Arctic transportation (Figure 4).

Figure 4. As part of her work, Mia led a youth monitoring program with local students from Kiilinik High School, collecting snow data to help in scientific modelling of ice conditions.

In August 2017, Mia represented both ONC and the Cambridge Bay community when the historic Canada Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast expedition made a memorable stop in the tiny Nunavut hamlet (Figure 5). In September, Mia helped ONC host an Open House event in Cambridge Bay to help recruit a new Arctic Youth Science Ambassador.

Figure 5. Mia Otokiak (centre) spoke eloquently at the Arctic live dive, broadcast across Canada from the CanadaC3 ship in Cambridge Bay on 29 August 2017, with Fish Eye Project co-founder Mike Irvine (left) and Mia’s grandmother Eva Kakolak (right). Photo credit: Students on Ice Foundation/Natta Summerky.

Mia was recently hired as a Junior Technical Advisor at the Nunavut Impact Review Board, an institute of public government whose primary objective is to protect and promote the existing and future well-being of the residents and communities of the Nunavut Settlement Area.

“I can guarantee that ONC was a huge reason I have been able to get my current job with the Nunavut Impact Review Board,” say Mia. “ONC has been a huge stepping stone in my science career, and I am truly grateful to have been a part of the team (Figure 6).”

Figure 6. Mia learning about ocean engineering and deep sea exploration with Wally the benthic crawler.

ONC’s Youth Science Ambassador program has now expanded to include five regional one-year positions⎯in Nunavut (Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, and Gjoa Haven) and British Columbia coastal regions (Greater Victoria and the north coast) for 2017-18. Find out more about the current openings for Kugluktuk and Gjoa Haven Youth Science Ambassador positions, open until the end of September 2017.

“With the help of the Youth Science Ambassador program, ONC has succeeded in doubling its engagement of K-12 students over the last year. This is creating opportunities for Indigenous youth⎯who are underrepresented in the science and technology fields⎯to participate in hands-on ocean science-related activities and to explore how science is relevant to them and their communities,” says Maia Hoeberechts, ONC Associate Director, User Services.

We wish Mia Otokiak all the best in her future endeavours!

All Eyes on Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

kshoemak@uvic.ca — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 22:01:01 +0000

The arrival of the historic Canada Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast (Canada C3) expedition and Fish Eye Project’s Arctic live dive event⎯broadcast across the nation on Sunday 27 August⎯turns a tiny Nunavut hamlet into an innovative ocean literacy and climate science hub.

Figure 1. Members of the Fish Eye Project team prepare for the Arctic live dive as the Canada C3 ship arrives in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

For the first time in Canadian history, a group of marine biologists, educators and divers successfully broadcast live across the country from the frigid Arctic Ocean (Figure 1). On Sunday, 27 August, Victoria-based Fish Eye Project climbed aboard the Canada C3 ice breaker in Cambridge Bay and hosted a broadcast that provided Canadians with an opportunity to experience a glimpse of Arctic marine life (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The Arctic live dive was broadcast from the Canada C3 ship. Live dive hosts (l-r): Dr. Philippe Archambault, Laval University; Fish Eye Project team member Philippe Daigle, and co-founder Mike Irvine; Canada C3 expedition leader Geoff Green; and representing both the Cambridge Bay community and Ocean Networks Canada, Mia Otokiak with her grandmother Eva Otokiak. Photo: Students on Ice Foundation/Natta Summerky.

The English and French live dives⎯streamed live on CanadaC3 Facebook page⎯were viewed close to 200,000 times in less than a week. See for yourself!

English language Fish Eye Project Arctic dive

Watch the French version here.

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) was proud to sponsor this innovative opportunity to help Canadians understand and experience the Arctic Ocean. Victoria-based Fisheye Project founders Mike Irvine and Maeva Gauthier (Figure 3) are both University of Victoria alumni. Fish Eye Project connects people to the world’s ocean through interactive live dives. Participants can see, hear, and talk to scuba divers, in real time, without getting wet.

Figure 3. Fish Eye Project co-founders Maeva Gauthier and Mike Irvine prepare for the Arctic live dive. Photo credit: Students on Ice Foundation/Natta Summerky.

“ONC was instrumental in making this Arctic live dive possible,” says Fish Eye Project co-founder Maeva Gauthier. “Fish Eye is proud to have partnered with ONC to connect tens of thousands of Canadians with the Arctic Ocean and share the amazing biodiversity in these waters. ONC’s connections with the Cambridge Bay community and the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS), ocean education background, and knowledge of the marine life in these waters were very helpful. POLAR Knowledge Canada and CHARS have been very helpful locally and Ocean Wise provided us with dive gear.”

Twenty-year old Mia Otokiak, ONC’s first Youth Science Ambassador (2016-2017) was the star of the show, speaking on behalf of the Cambridge Bay community and ONC at both the Arctic live dive and the Canada C3 welcome ceremony (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Mia Otokiak spoke confidently and eloquently on behalf of both her local community and ONC at the Arctic live dive (left, centre) and at the Canada C3 welcome ceremony (right). Photo credit (left) Students on Ice Foundation/Natta Summerky.

The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport was also in Cambridge Bay to greet the arrival of Canada C3 and to make a funding announcement (Figure 5). Over the next 5 years, $175 million will be invested for Arctic Ocean initiatives, including safety equipment, marine infrastructure and training in Arctic coastal communities; an "Arctic National Aerial Surveillance Program Complex" in Iqaluit to allow for increased surveillance capabilities over the growing number of ships in the north; the establishment of an office of incident management through Transport Canada; expansion of Transport Canada's Community Participation Funding Program; and expansion of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary in the Arctic. Support for these initiatives will be allocated out of the government's $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan announced in November 2016.

Figure 5. Canada C3 expedition leader Geoff Green gives the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport a tour of Canada C3’s Legacy Room. Minister Garneau is holding a model of the carved wooden figure that travels by canoe through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean in Holling Clancy Holling's illustrated classic ‘Paddle to the Sea’. Mr. Green has promised to float the carving in the water off all three coasts during the expedition. Photo credit (left) Students on Ice Foundation/Natta Summerky.

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change watched the dive online and tweeted about her desire to participate in a future live dive (Figure 6).

Figure 6. The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, expresses her interest in participating in a future Fish Eye Project live dive. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, the ONC team are in Cambridge Bay from 3-15 September to conduct annual maintenance and upgrades to ONC’s underwater arctic observatory and shore station, now in its fifth year of gathering continuous Arctic Ocean and sea ice data.

At the same time, ONC’s Learning and Engagement team will be further developing ONC’s relationships with local schools and community groups, while the team fosters ongoing collaborations with international Arctic research initiatives at the recently completed Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS), which will officially open in October 2017.

United States and Canada unite to protect the Arctic

dwowens@uvic.ca — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 00:04:59 +0000

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) applauds the United States and Canada in their resolve to embrace opportunities and confront challenges in the changing Arctic through Indigenous partnerships and responsible, science-based leadership.

On 20 December, President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau issued a United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders’ Statement to launch actions ensuring a strong, sustainable, and viable Arctic economy and ecosystem. Actions include low-impact shipping, science-based management of marine resources, and freedom from the future risks of offshore oil and gas activity. Together, these actions set the stage for deeper partnerships with other Arctic nations, including through the Arctic Council.

Ice berg in the waters near remote Devon Island.

“Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama’s announcement reflects their clear understanding of the fact that the Arctic Ocean is Earth’s climate change ‘canary in the coal mine’,” says ONC CEO and President, Kate Moran. “The Arctic is the most impacted place on the planet, and the actions outlined in today’s announcement will serve to protect it and set the stage for genuine, shared decision-making with Indigenous communities.”

Mount Pelly is a territorial park located north of Cambridge Bay, the highest point of land in the area. The mountain is a long ridge of stratified sand and gravel left behind by glaciers.

Moran previously served in President Obama’s White House science and technology policy office. “My focus included Arctic policy, for which the President showed then, and continues to show, great international Arctic leadership,” comments Moran. ”I was proud of the President’s Arctic efforts and I am even more proud today because of Prime Minister Trudeau's important new actions that will protect the Arctic and the rich Indigenous communities it supports in both nations."

A group of Cambridge Bay students visit ONC’s upgraded observatory platform before redeployment, September 2016.

Currently ONC is working together with the Cambridge Bay community to deliver scientific data about their ocean front yard, which supports the management of their own resources. Working with ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador, Mia Otokiak, ensures that traditional knowledge and science can work together to provide the best information possible for the community of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador Mia Otokiak (right) with her grandmother Eva Otokiak (centre) and ONC Indigenous Community Learning Coordinator Mercedes McLean (left) at 2016 ArcticNet conference in Winnipeg.

"I am extremely happy to see the United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders' Statement as it will mean less damage to my homeland and more opportunities for Indigenous peoples to participate in science-based research." comments Mia Otokiak. "I look forward to future partnerships with people and organizations who want the Arctic and its peoples to succeed."

US-Canada Joint Statement

In French / In English

Backgrounder

In French / In English

FAQs

In French / In English

Downloadable map of ONC's Arctic Observatory

ONC's Arctic Observatory Map

Arctic sea ice: slow growth in 2016

linzhill@uvic.ca — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 18:07:57 +0000

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 geographic coverage and low total thickness.

The latest observed global sea-ice concentration, against the historic annual cycle dating back to 1978 from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) Cambridge Bay observatory has been monitoring ocean conditions in the Canadian Arctic since 2012, and sea ice measurements also show these trends. Temperatures over the last two weeks in November were in the -5 to -10˚C range, which in previous years has typically been -15 to -20˚C.

While the start of sea ice growth in October was not significantly delayed, the rate of growth is very slow. Sea ice over the Cambridge Bay underwater observatory is typically more than 50 centimetres thick by early December, while this year it is only 25 centimetres.

ONC's Cambridge Bay ice draft and air temperature data show slow sea ice growth and increasing temperatures in 2016: on 4 December 2016 the air temperature was -8.4°C, compared to -22°C in 2015. On the same date this year, the ice draft was 23 centimetres, compared with 56 centimetres in 2015.

Of note is that by early November 2016, global sea ice concentration was more than 10% lower than any other year, standing clear and distinct from the trends and records from all earlier estimates.

ONC continues to monitor Arctic sea ice conditions as part of Safe Passage, a collaborative project supported by Polar Knowledge Canada. Discussion about monitoring climate change in the Arctic will continue at the ArcticNet Annual Science Meeting in Winnipeg, 5-9 December 2016.

Cambridge Bay at the crossroads of history and climate science (2016)

linzhill@uvic.ca — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 23:04:00 +0000

In late summer 2016, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut found itself at the centre of an arctic crossroads of sorts: a pivotal meeting place where ice-bound history is melting into climate science. A week after the first luxury cruise ship sailed through a virtually ice-free Northwest Passage and anchored in Cambridge Bay, the wreck of Franklin’s ship The Terror—abandoned in 1845 due to impenetrable sea-ice—was finally discovered in Terror Bay, just 200 km east.

The coincidence in time and place of these two iconic voyages poignantly highlights how quickly the arctic climate is changing, the need to monitor these changes, and the growing importance of Cambridge Bay as an emerging arctic hub.

ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador, Mia Otokiak (left), and her mother pose in front of the cruise ship Crystal Serenity (centre) and its pilot ship RRS Ernest Shackleton (far left).

Just days before the Crystal Serenity passengers visited the tiny hamlet, an Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) team was also in Cambridge Bay. Since 2012, ONC’s Cambridge Bay Community Observatory has been continuously monitoring the Arctic Ocean. The goal of this year’s annual maintenance expedition was to upgrade and expand ONC’s ocean observatory, and to continue building local and national collaborations aimed at understanding our changing Arctic Ocean.

Map of Ocean Networks Canada's Arctic Observatory

Expanding Arctic Ocean monitoring

With the support of the Arctic Research Foundation’s research vessel Martin Bergmann and their small Seabotix remotely operated vehicle, the upgraded instrument platform was lifted out of the water, maintained, upgraded, and redeployed. The observatory platform now hosts more than 20 sensors, which measure and monitor everything from water quality, ocean acidification and ice thickness to fish tracking and marine life activity. The observatory includes an underwater high definition video camera, a hydrophone, and an onshore weather station with a shore camera. The data from these instruments can be viewed and downloaded for free from the ONC website.

The Arctic Research Foundation and ONC teams pose with the newly expanded Cambridge Bay community observatory platform prior to redeployment.

During their eight-day visit, the ONC team stayed at Polar Knowledge Canada’s (POLAR) newly built Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS), an impressive multi-use facility which will be completed in 2017. CHARS is a hub for arctic science research, providing ONC an opportunity to connect with other arctic research teams such as the Vancouver Aquarium dive team on their annual visit to sample and photograph the area, and Jean-Sébastien Moore, the researcher responsible for the local Ocean Tracking Network fish tagging program.

“This year’s operations in Cambridge Bay went extremely well,” comments ONC’s Observatory Support Engineer, Ryan Flagg. “The teamwork and support from our partners and the community made it possible to get a lot of work done in a short period of time. I can’t thank everyone enough.”

POLAR provided invaluable support to this year’s maintenance, doing everything from picking up the team at the airport to discussing joint initiatives, including Safe Passage, the POLAR funded sea-ice monitoring project that ONC is leading.

Understanding sea ice

As part of the Safe Passage program, the ONC team met with community members and educators to discuss the development of a local snow monitoring program that will be led by ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador, Mia Otokiak. The snowfall and snow depth data collected by local community members—as well as observations collected by youth through interviews with elders, hunters, and vessel operators—will directly contribute to developing a better understanding of conditions for arctic sea-ice freeze-up and break-up.

A community monitored snow measurement station installed in Cambridge Bay.

“This project highlights the importance of both scientific and Inuit knowledge,” comments ONC’s Indigenous Community Learning Coordinator, Mercedes McLean. “Having students be part of a project that will directly contribute to scientific models is incredible. It’s so important for youth to understand what the arctic was like 100 years ago, and how these changes are affecting the Inuit way of life.”

Cambridge Bay students learn about the physics and chemistry of sea ice.

Hands on marine operations: Research builds community!

While in Cambridge Bay, the ONC team held a community event and engaged with the Kullik Ilihakvik Elementary School and Kiilinik High School students and teachers to link local knowledge with ocean science and explore the topic of climate change. The grand finale was a trip to the local dock for an interactive hands-on session with the team installing the newly upgraded observatory and sensors, and a discussion on how students could become more involved in ocean science.

ONC Observatory Support Engineer, Ryan Flagg, explains the function of each observatory instrument to Cambridge Bay students.

ONC Observatory Support Engineer, Ryan Flagg, talks about the underwater video camera’s dual role in recording marine life and monitoring observatory instruments throughout the year.

The following operational and science goals were accomplished:

Retrieving and maintaining last year’s platform, instruments and cable
Deploying an upgraded platform with additional sensors, including:
- Satlantic SeaFET ocean pH sensor, made in Halifax, Canada
- acoustic Doppler current profiler for Safe Passage, funded by POLAR
- new conductivity, density and temperature sensor
- co-locating the previously offset hydrophone and fish profiler onto the main platform
- replacing the housing of the shore camera
- upgrading the shore station to include environmental monitoring electronics
- installing a C02 Optode
- splicing an additional lifting point and rigging the pop-up buoy for next year’s recovery
- conducting a full video inspection of the platform and cable using the Seabotix remotely operated vehicle
Collecting high definition video footage of the existing cables and platforms
Checking on ONC’s data storage servers and swapping the hard drives (used for hydrophone data storage)

Due to the cost of northern travel, collaborations in remote locations are important. While in Cambridge Bay, ONC supported multiple colleagues and partners including:

the installation of three snow measurement boards for POLAR Safe Passage project
compiling Canadian Hydrographic Service tide gauge survey
deploying an autonomous passive sampler for Environment and Climate Change Canadacollecting University of Victoria and Fisheries and Oceans Canada science samples destined for transport home on the CCGS Sir Wilfred Laurier, including:
- coordinating samples collected by Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- collecting a seafloor sediment sample for University of Victoria researcher, Vera Pospelova.

Sunset over Cambridge Bay during ONC’s annual maintenance operations on the RV Martin Bergmann.

Cambridge Bay observatory monitors Arctic ocean health and safety

linzhill@uvic.ca — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 19:50:54 +0000

As shrinking sea ice ushers in a new era for arctic tourism, Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) newly expanded Cambridge Bay observatory becomes a vital tool for monitoring ocean health and marine safety.

Map of Ocean Networks Canada data sources and installations in the Arctic.

On 29 August, the cruise ship Crystal Serenity arrived in Cambridge Bay Nunavut, bringing 1600 passengers and crew to the tiny hamlet, temporarily doubling the population of about 1500 people. Read the CBC story.

According to ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador, Mia Otokiak, the massive cruise ship was too big to put into the Cambridge Bay harbour, forcing it to anchor at a place the locals call the “gravel pit".

ONC’s Arctic Youth Science Ambassador Mia Otokiak and her mom with the cruise ship Crystal Serenity and its pilot ship RRS Ernest Shackleton in the background.

Mia helped her uncle Noah sell his carvings to passengers at an art show, put on specially for the visitors. "The experience was something I hadn't expected!” says Mia. “Every single person I encountered from the ship—there were so many, I can't even count—was very nice and so curious about Cambridge Bay in general. I loved sharing knowledge from my community!"

Local carvings displayed at the Cambridge Bay art show for the Crystal Serenity passengers.

ONC’s Cambridge Bay observatory has been in operation for 4 years, providing live real-time ocean monitoring using sensors that measure temperature, oxygen, salinity, sea ice, underwater noise, marine life, as well as underwater and onshore cameras and much more.

ONC’s Cambridge Bay observatory platform connects over 20 ocean monitoring sensors to the Internet in real-time.

A small ONC team was in Cambridge Bay from 21-28 August, maintaining and upgrading the observatory and building relationships with the community. Stay tuned for an update on the recently expanded Arctic Ocean monitoring system, made possible by support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.

The ONC team worked with the crew of the research vessel Martin Bergmann to deploy the newly upgraded Cambridge Bay platform on 25 August 2016.

Sea Ice Research and its Benefits

mkasprzik@oceannetworks.ca — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 17:10:21 +0000

Understanding Sea Ice: Ocean Networks Canada Coordinates POLAR Safe Passage Project.

Imagine an area of the size of Ontario ‒ gone. That’s roughly the amount of Arctic sea-ice that has melted in the last 30 years: over 1 million square km. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: some climate change forecasts are predicting an ice-free summer Arctic Ocean by as early as 2030.

Understanding sea-ice change is critical to life in the high north, particularly when it comes to getting around. Local transportation and commercial shipping are defined by the Arctic’s shifting seasonal extremes, which is becoming harder to predict. Not only is the thickness and extent of the frozen ocean shrinking, but the dates of freeze-up, break-up and the duration of solid ice and clear water are shifting dramatically. This warming cocktail of unpredictable conditions is increasing the cost and risk of local transportation, commercial shipping and marine operations, making safe-passage precarious.

Icy shore by Cambridge Bay.

Ice Berg in the waters near remote Devon Island.

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is leading a timely collaborative project to improve our understanding of sea ice processes, especially those critical to Arctic transportation. Funded by Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR), Safe Passage: Sea-Ice Research for Arctic Resource Development and Northern Communities will leverage existing coast observation, modelling programs and community relationships to document the variability of ice cover in Cambridge Bay, Dease Straight and Deception Bay in Hudson Strait.

Locations of northern research areas.

“ONC took the leadership when POLAR asked a few organizations to pull together a single sea-ice study proposal.” Project lead Richard Dewey, ONC’s Associate Director of Science Services will work with ONC’s Associate Director, User Services Maia Hoeberechts, who will coordinate community outreach.

Over the next 3 years, ONC will enhance its Cambridge Bay observatory, which has been continuously gathering data since 2012. The Safe Passage network includes Dr. Monique Bernier, INRS, who are currently working in Deception Bay in Hudson Strait; Dr. Paul Myers, University of Alberta, specializes in numerical modelling in Northern Canada; Derek Mueller, Carleton University, involved with big ice satellite tracking; and the Canadian Ice Service, which currently relies solely on satellite data.

Carlton University student Anna Crawford studies the
deterioration and spatial distribution patterns of ice islands.

ONC’s Cambridge Bay observatory will provide real-time data and ground-truth confirmation of satellite data on sea-ice conditions. “To study seasonal sea-ice, we need both atmosphere and in-water measurements, so ONC’s Cambridge Bay Observatory is an ideal laboratory for researching sea-ice thermodynamics,” says Dewey.

The Community Observatory prior to installation in Cambridge Bay.

This project will integrate with existing and historical monitoring programs, including local and traditional knowledge of sea ice processes. There will also be opportunities for youth education, training for northern scientists, direct community involvement in research, use of local resources for equipment installation as well as presentations, live data displays, reports and online materials.

Calm evening waters of Cambridge Bay.

Since 2012, ONC has been building community relationships in the Cambridge Bay, Dease Strait region. Community involvement in the Deception Bay in Hudson Strait region will leverage programs developed by the Kativik Regional Government, the Kativik School Board and the INRS team.

We’re excited by the potential to use the observatory data and computer modelling, in collaboration with other arctic sea-ice projects and local community. This will improve our skill in predicting freeze-up and break-up dates for safe ice travel and shipping.

Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR) is on the cutting edge of Arctic issues and strengthens Canada's position internationally as a leader in polar science and technology. It will provide a world-class hub for science and technology research in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut called the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS). POLAR improves economic opportunities, environmental stewardship and quality of life for Northerners and other Canadians.

Ocean Networks Canada - Cambridge Bay

Three weeks late: Cambridge Bay sea ice freeze-up 2020

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Expedition 2019: Highlights Story Map

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Maintaining the Arctic’s Internet-connected ocean is no picnic

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Ocean Network’s first Youth Science Ambassador passes the torch

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All Eyes on Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

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United States and Canada unite to protect the Arctic

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Arctic sea ice: slow growth in 2016

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Cambridge Bay at the crossroads of history and climate science (2016)

Expanding Arctic Ocean monitoring

Understanding sea ice

Hands on marine operations: Research builds community!

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Cambridge Bay observatory monitors Arctic ocean health and safety

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Sea Ice Research and its Benefits

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