Search Results

After a few days exploring the marine environment around Les Escoumins we are now headed for the Saguenay Fjord. Carved by glaciers during the last ice age, the Saguenay Fjord is a thin U-shaped valley, 105 km long and on average only 1.6 km wide. Cliffs tower above the surface of its waters, reaching 412 m at their highest point, Cap Trinité. They continue to plunge into depths of over 275 m. High cliffs at the edge of the Saguenay Fjord. Credit: Ellen Fanning/Huntsman Marine Skipper Carl Tremblay has quizzed us about our diving experience to make sure we are qualified enough to safely dive the fjord. All divers must have experience of night diving and diving in currents. But why night diving when we are here in the daytime? We are ready for our first dive, and it is time to find out! The team onboard the Accès Plongee Saguenay boat with skipper and dive expert Carl Tremblay. Charlie, Claire, Andrea and Jo prepare to dive. Credit: Ellen Fanning/Huntsman Marine Explos-Nature diver Julian, my buddy for today, and I are ready to dive. We step off the platform at the back of the boat and swim rapidly to the wall to avoid being swept away by the current. We check in with each other and start to descend. There are two distinct water layers within the fjord. As we start to sink, we are first passing through the upper freshwater layer. At this time of year, it is pleasantly warm, it can reach up to 20°C in summer, but in winter it freezes. Mussels cover the wall. Only freshwater species can live here, salinities range between 5 and 26 ppt. I look up towards the surface. The light is an eerie reddish-orange colour. This freshwater comes from Lake Saint-Jean and the tannins and iron from the forests that surround the lake make it a tea-like colour. The brown surface water blocks out light so by the time we reach 15 m it is almost completely dark. I am very glad of my large video lights. I check in with Julian and we continue to descend. The water starts to shimmer and become hazy, it’s hard to see Julian even though he is right next to me. The top fresh layer and the deeper marine waters are starting to mix, causing this effect. We are now entering the seawater that forms most of the fjord. This layer is fully marine, varying in salinity from 26 to 31 ppt. It is also much colder than the surface waters for much of the year, typically between 0 and 4°C, although recently it has been warming and today it is around 6°C. The unique environments found in fjords mean that you often find deep-sea organisms much shallower than they would normally be present. So, sampling here is a great opportunity for us to get specimens of deeper water species for our project. We reach our target depth and I start to sample. The rock walls are covered with life: bright red sea strawberry soft corals, basket stars with tangled arms, and most exciting for me, many sponges. Although I have to admit the iridescent bobtail squid are rather more fun to watch! Sea strawberry soft corals and basket stars on the wall at Cap Trinité. Jo is using bright lights to take this photo, or this would be pitch black. Credit: Jo Porter This sea slug species was common, here you can see a group and their egg masses to the left. Credit: Claire Goodwin/Huntsman Marine Bobtail squid were frequent in the Saguenay Fjord. Credit: Claire Goodwin/Huntsman Marine

“So,” Charlie explains, “you simply put on your fins and crawl backward over the rock into the water. Then to get out, you can grasp onto this spike to help pull yourself out of the water.” Charlie is the Diving Officer for Explos-Nature and our dive guide for today. The three of us look at her, slightly horrified, rock climbing wasn’t in my risk assessment! We are all wearing twin sets (two scuba tanks) with heavy lead weight belts and are loaded down with sampling bags and cameras. We have also already hiked down the hill pushing our dive kit in wheelbarrows and then carried it over the uneven rocks to the edge of the water. Following Charlie’s advice, we slide down the sloping rock like three clumsy seals. But when we have sunk down to the seabed it is worth the struggle. Large red anemones and scarlet sea cucumbers cover the rock wall. Between them are lots of smaller animals – including bryozoans. We get to work sampling. Andrea, Julian, Claire and Jo prepare to enter the water at Les Escoumins. Credit: Explos Nature The steep rocky shores at Les Escoumins made for some tricky entries. Credit: Ellen Fanning We are diving in Baie des Anémones at Les Escoumins. This is a popular base for scuba diving from the shore, operated by Parks Canada. Les Escoumins is situated on a rocky peninsula on the north shore of the St Lawrence Estuary. Here, the rocky shores drop rapidly to depths of 300 metres. The upwellings and currents supply abundant food for filter feeding animals, so the sites are very rich in marine life. Filter feeding anemones, sea peaches (ascidians) and sea cucumbers cover every surface in the Baie des Anemones. Credit: Jo Porter Ellen is acting as our shore safety attendant, poised ready to help if there is any incident while we are diving. This can be a fairly boring job, watching the divers’ bubbles or buoy until they surface. But on this trip whales entertain Ellen while we are underwater. Because the shore here is so close to deep water, you can whale watch right from the rocks. A humpback whale surfaces before flipping its tail up to dive. In the distance Ellen spots a blue whale! Meanwhile, the divers underwater are oblivious to this wildlife spectacle as they intently examine rocks and boulders for marine invertebrates. While we are diving Christy and Mary are off exploring the intertidal zones of the shore or pontoons in marinas. This also isn’t without its hazards – Mary returns from one trip covered in mosquito bites. The first shore site is a rocky mussel bed at Cap de Bon-Désir. Many tourists watch from the rock bluffs as a humpback whale entertains us only about 30 feet away. This shore is dominated by blue mussels, amphipods (Gammarus) and large predatory worms (Alitta virens). Rocky shore at Cap de Bon-Désir. Credit: Mary Spencer Jones On day two, we head to a very different intertidal habitat with a sandy beach at Pointe à John. Here, the fauna reminds me much more of that in subarctic Churchill, MB, than in the Bay of Fundy. In particular, castings of the lugworm Arenicola marina litter the beach. We walk out for 30 minutes, but we are still only halfway to the low water edge. We decide to stop here and see what we can find. Mary examines the seaweeds for white patches of bryozoans while I dig and sieve the sand for organisms. We have a window of about 1 hour before the tide comes back in and threatens to carry away our buckets and tools. Sandy beach at Pointe à John. Credit: Mary Spencer Jones We are also using a grab to sample. This is a device that has jaws that close to grab a chunk of the seabed. Normally we would use a winch on the boat to haul the full grab from the seabed, but the Explos-Nature boat is small and does not have a winch. So, we must hand haul the grab. We soon develop a good system, three of us hauling at once. But it is hard work! Hauling up the grab aboard the Explos-Nature vessel the Merveille C. Credit: Explos Nature After our sampling trips we head back to the lab to examine and identify our finds. We’re not looking only for the big stuff that is obvious underwater but also tiny animals that are hard to see with the naked eye. We hunt over rocks for the tiniest bryozoan crusts, pick minute shrimp off weed and pull minuscule worms out of seafloor mud and sand. We have to photograph each specimen, give it a field ID and preserve it in ethanol so we can examine it further later and send tissue off to be barcoded. The team hard at work in the lab examining the day’s catches. Credit: Ellen Fanning

We’re off on the road again, and this time we are headed to Quebec on fieldwork for our barcoding project. This project will create a barcode library for Atlantic Canadian marine invertebrate species. It's funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada under a program that aims to develop tools for monitoring Marine Protected Areas. Barcodes are short fragments of DNA that we can use to identify species instead of examining their physical characteristics. However, this is only possible if the species are already in a barcoding reference database, and we estimate that over half of our marine species are not yet barcoded. To learn more about barcodes check out Christy’s blog from last year https://www.huntsmanmarine.ca/post/soi-expedition-blog-post-2-what-is-a-barcode-christy-carr. Last year, during the first phase of the project, Christy completed a gap analysis to determine which marine species barcodes were missing with a primary gap being from the Phylum Bryozoa where few species had been barcoded to date. Bryozoans can be erect, like Dendrobeania murrayana (top) or encrusting like Parasmittina jeffreysi (bottom). Credit: HMSC. Bryozoans or moss animals are colonial, aquatic organisms. Their colonies are composed of individuals called zooids. Bryozoan colonies can grow over rocks, shells and seaweed in thin sheets or form upright fan or bush structures. Although all zooids in a colony are genetically identical, they can look very different and perform different jobs, including feeding, excretion, defence and reproduction. Bryozoans are filter feeders and use a crown of tentacles, called a lophophore, to take small particles, such as bacteria and plankton, from seawater. The bryozoan Flustrellidra hispida feeding. Credit: Mary Spencer-Jones. Unfortunately, there are currently no bryozoan specialists working on the east coast of Canada, so for this trip we have imported some from the United Kingdom! Mary Spencer Jones is the Senior Curator of Recent Bryozoa from the Natural History Museum in London, Andrea Waeschenbach, also from the Natural History Museum, is a Researcher who specialises in molecular systematics, and Professor Jo Porter from Heriot Watt University. The bryozoan team Andrea, Mary and Jo did occasionally escape the lab to sample Canadian delicacies like poutine. We’ve chosen to go to Québec to get samples of more northern fauna for our project. The Gulf of St Lawrence has much colder waters than our Bay of Fundy, so we find Arctic and boreal species there. We’ll be working with Explos-Nature (https://explosnature.ca; a non-profit organization with some similar activities as Huntsman Marine but in Québec). Their team have extensive diving experience in the local area and will guide us to the best spots. Our survey is within the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park and we have permits from both Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada to allow us to sample. The team will travel from Huntsman Marine to Les Escoumins and the Saguenay Fjord, both are within the Saguenay-St Lawrence Marine Park. Credit: Map data from Google. Cool facts about bryozoan Many bryozoans have calcium carbonate skeletons – we identify their species by looking at the shape of the zooids. We often have to look at them at very high magnification to see clearly. We sometimes must use a scanning electron microscope to do so. A colony of the bryozoan Dendrobeania murrayana seen under the scanning electron microscope. Credit: HMSC. Romans used to grind up bryozoans to use as toothpaste. Their calcium carbonate skeleton is abrasive to scrub off dirt and stains. However, the Romans might not have been too discriminating as they also used urine and mouse brains for teeth cleaning! We can use the chemicals in bryozoans (or the bacterial colonies that live inside the bryozoan) to develop new drugs. Bryozoans produce chemicals to stop predators from eating them. Many of these have medicinal properties against diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. Bryozoans can grow very big. One specimen of the potato crisp bryozoan Pentapora foliacea trawled up in the UK was over two metres wide. Sadly, bryozoans rarely grow this large now as they are easily damaged by mobile fishing gear (and scientific sampling gear!). A colony of the potato crisp bryozoan Pentapora foliacea. Credit: Natural History Museum, London. Some bryozoans have structures called avicularia that look like bird heads. The beak snaps at predators to deter them from eating the colony or removes organisms that try to settle on it. A colony of Dendrobeania murrayana in close up showing birds head avicularia. Credit: Mary Spencer-Jones. Bryozoans can form reefs similar to coral reefs. One reef at Western Port in southern Australia covers an area of 1.74 km2 and up to 1.5 m high. https://fathompacific.com/project-spotlight/western-port-bryozoan-reef-project/ We can find bryozoans from the seashore to the deep sea. The deepest a bryozoan has been found so far was at 8,300 m in the Kermadec Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

What did the ocean say to the beach?... Nothing, it just waved! Although the glamour of field work is what most people associate with marine biology, many hours are dedicated to processing samples in the lab to collect data to answer research questions. Over the past few weeks, I have been involved in tons of lab work processing sponge specimens from various locations for taxonomic identification. To taxonomically identify a species means classifying it based on its physical characteristics. A specialized taxonomist and reference to many guides and taxonomic keys is essential to narrow down a specimen to species level. Unfortunately, the ability to accurately identify is often limited to the quality of available identification resources. Needless to say, things can often get a little tricky. What’s interesting is that the specific part of the specimen used in taxonomic identification varies for different groups of organisms. In my case, I am focused on identifying sponge species which is done through looking at intricate skeletal structures. Halichondria panicea sponge collected from Grand Manan. Credit: Claire Goodwin Sponges are simple animals that can be an array of various shapes, colours, and sizes. Their phylum, Porifera, means “pore bearing” referring to the many small holes and channels on their bodies. These structures allow sponges to filter water and feed on the tiny organisms and food particles contained in it. As sessile animals, they grow attached to substrate such as rock on the seafloor and cannot move. What I find most impressive about sponges is their remarkably diverse skeletal structures, which you may not expect from such simple creatures. The skeleton is made up of individual microscopic silica glass (or calcium carbonate in some groups) components called spicules that vary in shape and size, unique to each sponge species. Taxonomists rely on these spicules for identification since external appearances can often be misleading. Additionally, the arrangement of the spicules within the skeleton can also be a valuable characteristic for taxonomy. Some of the various spicule types found in sponges. Credit: Lukowiak et al., 2013 To get a close look at the spicules of a sponge, some preparation must be done in the lab. This is where I come in! Each sponge specimen collected goes through two processes before identification is possible. First, sponge spicules are extracted from the sponge tissue (spongin) by placing a small piece into bleach. The bleach dissolves all the tissue surrounding the skeleton, leaving behind a solution full of only spicules. After a few rinses with water and 95% ethanol, the spicule solution is dropped onto a microscope slide. A few drops of a transparent glue made from balsam trees is placed over the spicules and a cover slip is secured on top (yes, the glue smells like a Christmas tree). The second step involves taking a tissue sample of the sponge by slicing an extremely thin section through its outer surface and inner layer. This tissue sample is placed in clove oil (which also has a Christmassy smell), clarifying the tissue to make it appear more transparent. Once clarified, the sample is placed on the same microscope slide, coated by more balsam glue, and sealed beneath a cover slip. Spicule preparation. Credit: Sandra Jaskowiak Tray of microscope slides with sponge spicule preps and tissue samples. Credit: Sandra Jaskowiak Three trays of microscope slides later, I moved to the lab microscope to photograph, measure, and describe the spicules of each individual specimen. These were then grouped based on similar spicule structures and identified accordingly to most recent species descriptions. Once identified, species names are updated in a specimen catalogue which will later be assigned a DNA barcode following DNA analysis. Spicule prep (left) and tissue sample (right) of a Halichondria panicea sponge under a microscope. Credit: Sandra Jaskowiak I hope that you’ve been able to learn something new from my blog over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, this will be my final post but I am so happy for the opportunity to share what I have been up to at Huntsman Marine over these few months. If you have any questions for me or would like to connect, feel free to reach out at sandrajaskowiak@hotmail.com. Best Fishes, Sandra

How does a clam answer the phone?... Shello? As the summer season came to an end, the time of year for the annual St. Andrews softshell clam survey quickly approached. Another chance to do field work…sign me up! Soft shell clams are an important traditional fishery for the Peskotomuhkati Nation. The softshell clam survey is a two-day event in October, organized by the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group, to provide much needed information on the status of the local clam populations. Staff from Huntsman Marine collaborate to help organize and coordinate volunteer participants, including local high school students from Sir James Dunn Academy, to help with the survey and learn hands on science skills. Huntsman Marine Science Centre team on day one of the clam survey (Christy Carr, Ellen Fanning, Claire Goodwin, Laura Mahon-Hodgins, and Sandra Jaskowiak from left to right) On day one we divided into groups with the student helpers along the beach at the tip of St. Andrews. Starting on the tide line in the morning, we placed down 50 cm quadrats to mark the first site of the survey. After recording substrate composition (amount of mud, sand, or rocks), we dug up the area of beach contained within the quadrat. Every shovel full of sand, rock, and clay was placed in a large standing sieve. The substrate was washed down with seawater revealing various critters under the surface. When a living softshell clam was found, we measured the length of its shell and noted if it was intact. Of course, our eyes were peeled for softshell clams but other living marine animals, including barnacles, crabs, and worms, were also noted on data sheets as well. Invasive European green crabs (Carcinus maenas) were unfortunately quite common and many worms were also found, both of which are predators of clams! This process of digging, sieving, and recording continued until the hole was about a foot deep. Then, it was time to fill the hole back in and return the animals back to where they were found. As the tide went out, we started the next quadrat dig at the new tide line. Digging and sieving a quadrat on day one. Credit: Claire Goodwin Softshell clam (Mya arenaria). Credit: Sandra Jaskowiak Day two followed a very similar schedule as day one, but this time, we were conducting our survey along Bar Road towards Ministers Island. As before, we began putting down quadrats at the tide line and noted down any clam observations as the hole was dug. Although some areas with big rocks or thick clay were difficult to dig down, some clams were found and logged for the survey. With great weather, and an eager team making the day fun, we successfully completed two days of clam surveys to monitor these valuable populations. Day two of clam surveying. Credit: Sandra Jaskowiak Best Fishes, Sandra

Which dog knows how to swim underwater?... Scuba-doo! Being a marine biologist isn’t always about spending every day out on the water and looking at cool animals… but sometimes that’s exactly what it is – and those days are the best! During the last week of September, I had the privilege of joining my team in a fieldwork trip to Grand Manan Island, an opportunity to jump right into the heart of the research I’m involved with! The field team minus Anaïs. Christy Carr, Olivia Reeves, Sandra Jaskowiak (top; left to right), Davide Asnicar, Claire Goodwin, and Tom Trott (bottom; left to right). As an ocean lover and diver, I was beyond excited to get out in the field and see what it’s like in Canadian waters. The purpose of this trip was to document the coastal habitats of the island and collect specimens for taxonomic identification and DNA barcoding. This required a collaborative team of divers and taxonomists to gather as much information about the habitats and their species as possible. On our first evening with the whole team, we planned the upcoming few days over delicious bowls of Christy’s homemade chilli. Dive team with boat captain Emily in the back. Davide Asnicar, Sandra Jaskowiak, Anaïs Lacoursière, and Claire Goodwin (left to right). Credit: Davide Asnicar The dive “dream team” included Claire Goodwin, Anaïs Lacoursière, and Davide Asnicar, all veteran divers with hundreds, even thousands, of dives under their belts. While I wasn’t entirely new to diving, with over a year of experience diving mostly in Australia and Honduras, the cold and murky waters of Atlantic Canada weren’t exactly what I was used to. Just before the trip, I got certified in dry suit diving, which allows you to explore the bottom of the ocean while staying mostly warm and dry in the comfort of your own thermal underlayers. Equipped with a new dry suit certification in hand, I was ready to dive into the mysterious underwater realm of the Canadian Atlantic. Sandra and Anaïs doing buddy checks before a dive. Credit: Claire Goodwin One backward roll off our dive boat and the ocean was ours to explore. As we descended through the murk, impossible to see anything beyond 3 m, I couldn’t help but remember the stories of Great White Shark sightings in the area. While these extraordinary apex predators are vital to the ecosystem, the thought of meeting one up close and personal in the open ocean was a bit unnerving. The uneasy thought immediately fell away once we reached the bottom, just below 10 m, exposing an array of life on the seafloor. Bedrock and boulders were covered in algae and kelp. We discovered sponges, sea stars, lobsters, crabs, and my personal favorite, nudibranchs (sea slugs). Each dive was unique, with some areas having muddy bottom and others featuring lots of rock or cobble, each with their own marine life. We collected specimens for later identification and captured photos and videos to document our findings on habitat forms. Initially, I was particularly excited about observing crabs in their natural habitat, later realizing that they weren’t all that uncommon as I had thought. Back on the boat, after diving some sites with mud, we also took grab samples of sediment to collect creatures like polychaete worms living just beneath the surface. As Claire lowered the jaws of the grab sampler down to the substrate, the rest of the team was ready with a sieve and buckets to wash away mud from the grab, revealing some sand and the animals we were after. The sample handoff. Credit: Sandra Jaskowiak Jonah Crab (Cancer borealis). Credit: Claire Goodwin While we explored the waters around the northwest end of the island, the shore team, comprising of taxonomists Christy Carr and Tom Trott, along with algae enthusiast Olivia Reeves, worked away collecting intertidal specimens from shore. They also spent hours at microscopes, identifying and preserving specimens in our makeshift lab. Christy collecting specimens on shore. Credit: Tom Trott After long, productive days on the water, setting up gear, filling tanks, and preparing camera equipment, it was always exciting to get home, examine the day's interesting specimens under the microscope, and enjoy a warm meal, be it fajitas, burgers, or homemade pizza. We reviewed the day's footage, filled out dive logs and habitat forms, and then it was off to bed for a good night's rest, preparing for the adventures of the following day. Two nudibranch specimens (Coryphella verrucosa) from a dive. Credit: Christy Carr Alderia modesta specimen found in a saltmarsh by the shore team. Credit: Christy Carr In the end, the trip was a great success! With calm weather on our side, we explored more dive sites than initially planned and new target species were added to the specimen collection. Aside from one mishap – the loss of an anchor – the trip was an achievement that the entire team can be proud of. Future fieldwork is scheduled for Grand Manan Island next year, which I unfortunately won’t be a part of, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to help kickstart the project here on such a positive note. I’m already missing the team’s company and hoping for another chance to do field work during my time here at Huntsman Marine. Now it’s time for me to go sort through all the data we’ve collected. Best Fishes, Sandra

What's the best thing about being a marine biologist?… It gives you a sense of porpoise! Hello, I’m Sandra Jaskowiak, a co-op student who recently joined the Taxonomy and Biodiversity team at The Huntsman Marine Science Centre. I will be here until the end of this year (2023), and I’m absolutely thrilled to be involved in the exciting research happening at Huntsman. I can’t wait to bring you along my exciting journey through this blog! Sandra Jaskowiak First, let me tell you a little more about myself. I have always had an interest and passion for the ocean and the creatures that call it home, so I decided to pursue my dreams of becoming a marine biologist. Currently, I’m in the final year of my Undergraduate Co-op degree, specializing in Marine and Freshwater Biology at the University of Guelph in Ontario. What’s so special about a Co-op degree, you may ask? Well, although it takes one extra year to complete compared to a typical undergrad, the co-op program allows students the invaluable chance to complete full-time work terms throughout their degree to build valuable career skills, gain job experience, and form a network in their area of study. As a co-op student, I get to work at Huntsman Marine on a 4-month work term to develop skills for my future marine biology career, all before graduation. That sounds like a pretty epic opportunity to me! Growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, I have never had the chance to visit Canada’s East Coast until now. I am definitely having an easy time getting used to the beautiful views and stunning sunsets of Passamaquoddy Bay from my new home in St. Andrews. Sunsets in St. Andrews. Credit: Sandra Jaskowiak As for my position at Huntsman Marine, I am working closely with Dr. Claire Goodwin: Research Scientist in Taxonomy and Biodiversity, dive safety officer and sponge expert. I’ll be contributing to two main projects. The first is a baseline study to monitor marine habitats and species in Passamaquoddy Bay, helping us understand their current composition and how these environments have evolved over time. The second is a barcoding project that focuses on populating DNA barcode libraries with Canadian Atlantic marine invertebrate species. By matching unique DNA barcodes to specific species, we can add to online barcode libraries that enable the identification of species based solely on their DNA. Kind of like a 23andMe DNA test but for all the species we know of. This can enhance the ability for scientists to monitor biodiversity of Marine Protected Areas in the future. Through my work term, I will be involved in lots of exciting tasks including lab work, field work, data entry and science communication. I can’t wait to take you along my journey and give you a glimpse into the world of the Taxonomy and Biodiversity research team at The Huntsman Marine Science Centre. Stay tuned for plenty of photos, stories, intriguing facts, and even some marine biology humor, all in one blog! Best Fishes, Sandra

The ship is heading into our anchorage for the night when we spot it. At first just a blob of white on the surface of the glassy sea. As we get closer, we can make out its black nose, and two rounded ears. It’s a polar bear! Along with most of the rest of the people on board I rush up onto the bow deck to get a good look. I’m impressed at how fast it is swimming. Polar bears use their powerful front legs to swim and the back as a rudder, reaching speeds of up to ten kilometers per hour. Scientists consider them marine mammals, as they spend much of their time in the ocean and depend on it for their survival. Their Latin name Ursus maritimus means ‘sea bear’. They can swim distances of more than ninety kilometers without a break. This one however decides it does want a break and hauls itself onto a rocky islet near our anchorage. A polar bear was sighted on a rocky islet. Credit: Students on Ice. I hadn’t expected to see polar bears here in summer, thinking they would be in the high Arctic on sea ice. But the polar bear populations of Labrador and northern Quebec are one of the few that are thought to be healthy, estimated at around 2500 strong. Scientists suspect that polar bears here are doing well because of a boom in harp seal numbers. This is due to the collapse of the industry that hunted the harp seals for their fur. I’m very excited to see my first polar bear but it does present a bit of a problem for our diving. While polar bear attacks are rare, they do occur. Between 1870 and 2014 there were 73 confirmed attacks in which 20 people were killed and 63 injured, so it is wise to avoid contact if possible. We had been hoping to dive the islet the bear is sitting on but change our plan, moving a few kilometers away to a steep cliff. We discuss recall signals in case a bear shows up on a dive site – Sam will rev the boat’s engine and we will put up our marker buoy so he can locate us. When he has managed to scare the bear away, he will rev the engine again, signalling to us that it is safe to ascend. If the encounter risk is high, we will take a bear guard in the boat with us, armed with a gun with ‘bear banger’ cartridges. These make a loud noise which scares the bears away without harming them. All this is definitely not something I have to consider in my Bay of Fundy fieldwork! We are into our final week of the expedition now and trying to collect as much as possible to make the most of our time here. I’m particularly keen to catch a worm that we have spotted several times now that Meg has nicknamed the ‘tongue worm’. This long white, flattened, worm has an end shaped a bit like a spatula. I am not sure what species it is and to identify it I will need to capture it and preserve it for examination under the microscope. I’ve tried grabbing it with my hands but as soon as I touch it, it retracts rapidly into its burrow. So, we arm Meg with a highly technical piece of equipment we dub the worm spoon (ok we borrowed it from the galley!). After several dives Meg does eventually manage to grab a piece of one of the worms. It might not be enough to identify it using morphology but if someone has already sequenced this species, we may be able to identify it using its genetic material (DNA). Genetic ‘barcodes’ are short pieces of DNA that are increasingly being used for species identification. We hope to barcode many of the species we have collected on this trip and add them to a database we are creating for Atlantic Canadian marine invertebrates (learn more about this project in this previous Huntsman blog - https://www.huntsmanmarine.ca/post/soi-expedition-blog-post-2-what-is-a-barcode-christy-carr ). Meg deploys the worm spoon. Credit: Claire Goodwin/HMSC. Amanda Savoie from the Canadian Museum of Nature is also collecting. But her target is seaweed, which fortunately for her, is less speedy! When she gets her samples back on the boat, she presses the seaweed specimens to preserve them. She floats them in trays of seawater so she can arrange them on thick herbarium paper in a way that identification features can be clearly seen. Amanda will also barcode her seaweed specimens and preserves a small piece of them in silica gel for this. She holds a workshop for youth, elders and crew and everyone has great fun making beautiful seaweed bookmarks. Amanda collecting seaweed. Credit: Claire Goodwin/HMSC. Amanda teaches people how to press seaweed. Credit: Students on Ice. The team from leg 3 celebrate the achievements of the voyage. Credit: Students on Ice. Too soon it is our last dive of the expedition. We gather on the stern for a team photo and to celebrate the achievements of the voyage. Together we’ve explored rarely visited areas of the Labrador Coast. We have collected data on habitats, species, oceanography, and archaeology to help the Innu Nation manage their marine zone. Innu youth and community members have been able to experience the research firsthand. We hope this will inspire some of the youth to follow marine careers. I’ve had a fantastic trip but am looking forward to getting home and catching up with my family – and on sleep! I’ll be spending the next few months in the laboratory identifying all the specimens we collected. But hopefully this isn’t goodbye to Labrador, and I will be back soon to explore some more uncharted waters. A CBC recap of the expedition can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_WNSKi-lNs You can read more about the expedition and see weekly expedition films by following on InnuNationLabrador and StudentsOnIce on Facebook and ‘Studentsonice on Instagram. We will also share them on the Huntsman social media. #innu#labrador#SOI#expedition #huntsmanmarine #CanadianMuseumofNature

It’s early morning and I sip my coffee while looking out from the bridge windows. Here at the very top of the ship I have a great view over the waters in front of us. I’m never quite sure where I will wake up in the morning, the ship moves overnight to a new location so this is a good chance to get my bearings. It’s quiet up here now and I take a few minutes to scan over the nautical chart on the computer screen in front of me. I'm looking for potential dive sites, trying to find seabed features that might be interesting. For me that is steep rock faces, preferably with sheltered crevices, overhangs and caves. Close contour lines on the chart show that these might be present. but we can’t tell for sure until we get on site and check it out using the depth sounder on the zodiac. And some of the areas we will be visiting are completely blank on the chart having never been surveyed. We can’t go into these on the expedition ship but can venture into them on the zodiacs if we feel there may be good sites. Some of the Labrador waters are uncharted, with no information on depths or seabed types. Credit Claire Goodwin/HMSC. As we sleep at night, Canadian Hydrographic Services seabed mappers, Ernest Hynes and Mark Ballah are conducting multibeam sonar surveys of the seabed from the ship, endeavouring to fill in some of these mapping gaps. But for now, we have to go with the information that we have. Soon I’m joined by the rest of the science and youth engagement staff. Michael Hannaford, expedition lead for the Innu Nation, lets us know of any priority sites in the current area. Then its up to Geoff to co-ordinate the science and youth engagement activities. It’s complicated scheduling who will be in which zodiac and the timings to make everything happen. Today Michael will be doing some Remotely Operated Vehicle surveys of the seabed, Jessica Desforges from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will be putting out some baited camera traps to try and see what fish are in the area, Terri Wells from DFO will be doing water chemistry monitoring, and Ashley Bungay (also DFO) is putting in traps to check for invasive green crabs. Geoff and Jenn Williams and Valérie Courtois (SOI education program co-leads) assign the youth to help the various science teams and will be going ashore later for a beach walk. The bridge is crowded as the science team meet to discuss the survey priorities for the day. Credit Claire Goodwin/HMSC. I am excited as I think I have spotted a great dive site. On the corner of South Tunungayukaluk Island the contours on the chart are so close together that they combine into one thick black line. It seems like the cliff may drop from the surface to 60 m. Checking it out from the ship, the cliff has huge overhangs. Sometimes this indicates more of the same underwater, but not always. We arrive on site in the zodiac and nose into the cliff, the rock face curving overhead. Looking down into the clear water the wall falls away steeply. The upper parts are barren, covered in coralline algae and a sprinkling of green urchins. The steep overhanging rock at this site might indicate the cliffs underwater are similar. Meg is going to find out! Credit Claire Goodwin/HMSC. But the only way to see what is below is to dive in. I roll in and start to underwater skydive down the cliff. As I fall slowly down the urchin barren changes into rich life. First a zone where sea colander seaweed dangles down (Amanda will be happy!), then a large overhanging shelf. It reaches around two metres out from the main wall. On the protected rock below the shelf bright red anemones jostle for space with tufty bryozoans. There are some of the biggest sponges I have ever seen – volcano-like bright yellow bumpy mounds. I have no idea what species of sponge they are so grab a sample. It is way too big to squeeze into one of my small whirlpak bags. Meg investigates a massive sponge on the cliff. Credit Claire Goodwin/HMSC. Overhanging bedrock on the cliff was covered with anemones, bryozoans and sponges. Credit Claire Goodwin/HMSC. Another day and we are in a different island group, the Freestones. This time we decide to deploy the sea viewer before jumping in. This is a camera that we can lower into the water and feeds us back live images from the seabed. Onboard Archaeologist Scott Neilsen, a professor from Memorial University, has reports of shipwrecks in this area and we are hoping to find them. The first site we scan isn’t promising. Barren bedrock with lots of urchins. We move further into the middle of the bay as I figure ships at anchor might have been sunk by an isolated rock that loiters here. The camera touches the seabed and immediately there are screams of excitement from Amanda who is watching the screen at the front. ‘A rhodolith bed!’. Shocking, pink coloured, round balls cover the seabed. These are actually a type of seaweed (which explains why Amanda is so excited!). The nooks and crannies between the balls are a great habitat for marine invertebrates and fish. They provide a secure nursery area where they can hide from predators. This includes the juveniles of commercially important species like scallops. We must wait for the tide to slacken before we dive the bed. When we submerge, we encounter brittlestars, many small fish, and hundreds of tiny lyre crabs. A well camouflaged Arctic shanny hides in the rhodolith bed. Credit: Claire Goodwin/HMSC Some water is too deep for us to dive into. As scientific divers we dive under the Canadian Association for Underwater Science standard. We use DCIEM dive tables to tell us how much bottom time we can safely have before accumulating too much nitrogen in our blood. The tables tell me I would have 8 minutes of bottom time on a 39 m dive – barely enough time to get my collecting kit out, so pretty pointless. Luckily, we have Michael onboard with his Remotely Operated Vehicles. As well as being Innu Nation scientific lead of the expedition, Michael is a professional ROV pilot who works on projects all over the world. ROVs are small underwater robots that have lights and cameras. Michael and his team lower them to the seabed and a cable conducts the camera's picture to a screen on the surface. Many of the youth onboard have a go at driving the ROV under Michael’s tutelage and some turn out to be very proficient. The control used to drive the ROV is actually one from a PlayStation, enabling the operator to move it forward and backward and up and down (maybe I should stop nagging my son about his video game time, it could come in handy!). In the deeper waters the camera has explored they have found fields of burrowing sea anemones, an important marine habitat. The team deploy the ROV. Credit: Students on Ice. Live feed from the ROV allows expedition participants to view the seabed. Credit: Students on Ice. We also used baited cameras. Fisheries and Oceans Canada technician Jessica Desforges has been setting these at various locations during our trip. The setup is simple, a go pro video camera and a light attached onto an old crab pot. A bag in front of the camera contains rather stinky cat food which will attract predators. This gives a much better chance of seeing fish species as, smelling the bait, they come to investigate the camera. On this trip Jessica has found many species including rock cod, sculpin, and her favourite, a female lumpsucker. This chubby fish emerged jerkily from the kelp and lurched right past the camera. Jessica and youth participant Annette prepare to deploy the baited camera. Credit: Students on Ice. All the video and photos keep us working long into the night, trying to identify species encountered and document the sites. This information will provide the Innu Nation with essential information on the species and habitats found in their waters. The images also provide a great way to share the seabed with those who stayed on the ship. We often screen them at evening briefings, laughing at the antics of the lyre crabs, burrowing anemones shooting back into their holes as the ROV passes overhead, or marvelling at sea urchins, swarming to eat a seal carcass. For more about how we identify what we encounter tune in next week. I am off for another dive…………. You can read more about the expedition and see weekly expedition films by following both InnuNationLabrador and StudentsOnIce on Facebook and Studentsonice on Instagram. #innu#labrador#SOI#expedition #huntsmanmarine #CanadianMuseumofNature

Rolling in off the zodiac, I start to sink down through the shimmering ocean surface, alive with thousands of comb jellies. My face stings from the freezing (-1oC) water, but I am too excited to care, for before us is a vertical wall, completely covered with life. Scarlet sea cumbers wave their tentacles. Splotches of orange and yellow sponges cover the bedrock, clashing with the pink encrusting algae around them. Lush seaweed wafts in the slight swell and long-legged toad crabs stroll underneath it. I settle in the slight overhang at the end of the gully and start to collect my samples. I photograph each animal and then, as delicately as my thickly gloved hands will allow, place it in a small, numbered plastic bag. The numbering lets me match it to the photos later. My buddy Meg is next to me videoing the rocky seabed and its inhabitants. Too soon our thirty minutes are up, and we must surface. We can see the dive boat above us through the crystal-clear waters. Reluctantly we start to ascend, as we float at five metres doing our safety stop, I can see Amanda and Roger still collecting below us. Amanda looks as excited as I was, darting over the rock to grab as many samples of seaweed as possible. Claire descends through hundreds of comb jellies. Photo HMSC/Meg Thompson Sea cucumbers, urchins, and sponges covered the bedrock. Photo HMSC/Meg Thompson. We are diving at the Gannet Islands, a remote archipelago 40 km off the Labrador Coast that few people are lucky enough to visit. Our four-person dive team consists of me, my buddy Meg Thompson (a student at University of Victoria), and Amanda Savoie and Roger Bull from the Canadian Museum of Nature. Plus, Sam Dews our zodiac driver and surface safety attendant. Our task is to record what animals and seaweeds are living at each site, and the type of seabed present. This is the first time anyone has dived these areas so even this basic information isn't yet known. As Amanda loves seaweeds and I have a soft spot for marine invertebrates, especially sponges, we make a great recording team. Meg and Roger are our photographers and videographers, documenting the sites. Amanda and I are both collecting samples - not always an easy task while wearing thick neoprene gloves! These will let us identify the species present (often we need to examine them under a microscope). We will also create reference collections for this region both of physical specimens and genetic sequences. The dive team. Left to right: Sam Dews, Amanda Savoie, Meg Thompson, Claire Goodwin, Roger Bull. Sporting new Innu Parks touques. Photos: Students on Ice. We are taking part in an Innu Nation project and Students on Ice Expedition, being conducted in partnership with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Based on an ice breaker research vessel we will sail up the Labrador coast from Goose Bay to Natuashish, conducting scientific sampling as we go. Along with our scuba dives, there will also be Remotely Operated Vehicle Dives, invasive species monitoring, plankton collection, bird surveys, and water chemistry monitoring and seabed mapping. Innu Nation scientific expedition lead Michael Hannaford explains that the Innu nation’s aim is to improve their knowledge of their marine ecosystems and provide a foundation for their future management and protection. A further aim is to build capacity for the Innu Nation to develop their marine work. Michael is hoping some of the youth on this expedition will consider marine careers following this trip. Youth visiting the seabird colonies at the Gannet Islands by boat. Image Students on Ice. Over 38000 breeding pairs of puffins inhabit the islands. Image Students on Ice. As this is a Students on Ice trip, we also have Innu youth on board. The expedition will let them see science at sea first-hand, develop skills and gain an understanding of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. When we return to the ship after our dive, they are buzzing from their zodiac tour around the island with bird expert Dr. Bill Montevecchi. Confusingly not a single Gannet lives on the islands, they are named after a 19th century British survey ship rather than the bird. But their steep cliffs are covered with thousands of other nesting birds. These include 15,000 pairs of Razorbills (the largest Razorbill colony in North America, 36,000 breeding pairs of Common Murres and 38,000 pairs of puffins. We show the youth the specimens we have collected from our dives – one of the red cucumbers, some splotched polar sea stars, delicate red seaweed, and a hairy hermit crab that I feel rather sorry to have to pickle. Innu youth Shaia and Jersey examine the specimens brought up by the divers. Image students on ice. That morning we’d taken a group of youth ashore at the Wunderstrands, also known as the Porcupine Strands. These and many of the sites we are visiting during the first part of our expedition are part of the Akami-Uapishkᵁ-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park. The park is co-managed by the Innu Nation and Parks Canada. Park Superintendent Jack Penashue and visitor experience co-ordinator Kilabuk Qupee spoke to us earlier in the expedition. They explained that the park will protect its environment, while preserving traditional Innu harvesting rights, allowing people to still live off the land. Parks staff include Innu guardians, including youth guardians. The 10,700 square km park will help to protect the threatened Mealy Mountain Caribou herd, as well as wolves, black bear, martens and birds. See more about the park here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPGafyw9rqo. The Vikings described these beautiful 50 km long ‘wunderstrands’ in sagas telling of their exploration of the Canadian Coast. We wander along the sunny sands. A group are with Amanda and I, exploring animals and seaweeds. Jayden and Jersey find so many spider crab legs we could do a jigsaw. We tow nets through the long tide pool, catching bright red jellies and side swimmers (amphipods). Ashley Bungay from Fisheries and Oceans Canada leads another group in a plastics survey. Fortunately, they do not find much. They classify what they do collect into sizes and types and check it to see if any sneaky invasive species are hitching a ride. The data will contribute to a national debris survey. A third are walking with Gioia Montevecchi from Innu parks hearing about the Innu heritage of the area. Nomadic Innu have roamed these lands for over 7000 years, hunting caribou in winter and fishing along the coast in summer. Artifacts found here include stone tent rings, remains of Shaputuan (longhouses), and stone tools showing the long use of the area. Part of Gioia’s role as parks planner is to identify archaeological sites for more detailed survey. We are all watched over by armed bear guards. Black bears are common in this southern part of Labrador and as we head further north, we may find polar bears. Claire explores a tide pool with Innu youth Shaia on the wunderstrands. Claire and Innu youth explore specimens found on the wunderstrands. Shanin and Claire examine specimens under the microscope. Tired and happy we return to the ship ready to move onto the next site. One of the many advantages of our floating home is that we can eat a delicious lunch while we travel. I wonder what we will find when we hit the water again……. You can read more about the expedition and see weekly expedition films by following on InnuNationLabrador and StudentsOnIce on Facebook and ‘Studentsonice’ on Instagram #innu#labrador#SOI#expedition #huntsmanmarine #CanadianMuseumofNature

#SOI, #HuntsmanMarine, #OCE, #30x30, #expedition, #marineprotectedarea #research, #blueeconomy The pilot boat glides alongside the Polar Prince and the pilot skips up the pilot ladder in three steps. He made that look much too easy – quite a contrast to our struggles when climbing off of the zodiacs. We are coming into Halifax where our voyage will end. Soon the crew tie the Polar Prince alongside 'The Cove' and the laborious process of unloading begins. This time the crew manage to crane off the deck container with all our gear still in it. Which makes loading everything up into the Huntsman field trailer much easier. The Crew finish the voyage in Halifax. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation. On the five-hour drive home to St Andrews Christy and I have plenty of time to reflect on the voyage. We are bringing back coolers full of specimens for our DNA barcoding project. Other scientists on board have gathered their own samples and data – everything from lobster microplastics, through pond eDNA, to kelp and bird observations. The Polar Prince enabled the science team to reach spots such as the remote Pearl Island and Seal Islands. It also allowed them to gather samples from many different locations throughout the Bay of Fundy and the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Scientists from the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources are excited that they have been able to sample ponds and place baited trail cameras on six different islands in only a few days when it would normally take them days to reach one. This will let them see if mammal species, which can be an issue for the bird species, are present on the island. Brogan, an honours student at Dalhousie, has been able to map kelp beds around several islands, using her go pro drop cameras. The evidence she has gathered may be used to plan and extend Marine Protected areas. Loic, our science co-ordinator, and another team from Dalhousie have been collecting environmental DNA water samples. Ada has been collecting cores of mud from island ponds, which will enable the biological history of them to be studied. Doug Hynes of the Canadian Wildlife Service collecting eDNA from a pond. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation. As well as achieving our scientific goals, it has been great to be part of the broader expedition and connect with the others on board. One of the aims of the Ocean Conservation Expedition was to promote discussion on conservation issues and forge collaborations between different organisations. These collaborations may help address some of the issues in the future. Canada is one of more than 100 countries that have committed to protect at least 30% of their lands and oceans by 2030. This is a goal set by the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity. However, getting there will involve much scientific study. There must be consultation with indigenous groups on whose unceded waters proposed areas lie. Also with other community members, particularly those who use the sea for their livelihood. Participants take part in a workshop on Marine Protected Areas. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation. Our last stop of the voyage was Layboldt Island. This is part of the 100 wild islands group, one of the last remaining intact and ecologically rich island groups of its size in North America. In 2014, the Nova Scotia Nature Trust launched an ambitious campaign to protect the entire archipelago. To date the campaign has protected over 85% of the 100 wild islands. The islands are home to over 100 bird species and have habitats ranging from bogs, barrens, to coastal rainforest (Learn more here: www.100wildislands.ca). Munju Ravindra has joined the voyage in her capacity as a senior advisor at Parks Canada. Munju's family used to own Layboldt Island but they donated it to the Nature Trust of Nova Scotia so they could protect it for future generations. With a catch in her voice, she tells the evening meeting how special it was to have her former island visited by the voyage. Caption: Munju (second from right front row) shared Layboldt Island with the team. Credit: Students on Ice. Today’s youth will have the job of maintaining the marine protected area network that is created. Students on Ice has brought students of diverse backgrounds on board with us to gain an insight into marine careers. Trevor Hester, from an indigenous community in Northern Quebec, has gone from having no zodiac experience to skillfully piloting one back from our last island stop. Melanie quizzed everyone on board about their work and now hopes to study biology at university. My dive buddy Millie jets back to Australia for the next stop on her scholarship tour. I hope the expedition has given her a useful insight into scientific diving for taxonomic studies. She promises to stay in touch, and I’d love to visit her in New Zealand some time – I can take the rather soggy socks she left behind! Trevor pilots a Zodiac. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation. Student Sophie Collins gains some taxonomy experience, helping us sort our samples. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation. From listening to Chris (Old Man Luedecke) playing his banjo in the zodiacs while Sky repaired a broken engine, to beach swims, being led by onboard artist Meg in ‘creative corner’ activities, gathering to watch sunset from the bow, and some fantastic meals we’ve all shared some great times. Geoff concludes our final briefing, telling us we’re all now part of the Students on Ice family. We hug and wave to our shipmates as they depart. But hopefully it’s not goodbye, I hear there are plans for future expeditions…….. Expedition artist-in-residence Meg O’Hara finding inspiration on Seal Island. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation. Old Man Luedecke playing on Layboldt Island. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation.

#SOI, #HuntsmanMarine, #OCE, #30x30, #expedition, #marineprotectedarea #research, #blueeconomy We have already done two dives this morning. Now just a couple of mud grabs to do and we can head back for lunch. The first grab is successful, and we collect a large scoop of worm filled mud for Christy. We give the next grab a good jiggle on the cable to get it to close and start to pull it up. But something doesn’t feel right, the cable is slack. Oh no! The grab has parted from the cable and is somewhere on the seabed below. The only thing for it is to go for another dive to try and find it. We take a GPS position to mark our spot and despondently we head back to the boat the collect more tanks. The chances of us finding it in the soft mud is slim but we have to give it a shot. Guess its lunch to go then – we want to get the dive done before the wind starts to pick up. With pizza slices in hand, we head back out. We are 25 minutes into our dive and starting to get low on air. We’ve been swimming in expanding circles from our shot line trying to find our grab. I feel a series of sharp tugs on the end of the line. Millie is flashing her torch excitedly over the seabed mud. I swim towards her and spot our grab, half sunk into the soft sediment. After a little underwater celebration, we get to work on retrieving the grab. We secure the rope we’ve been carrying onto the shackle, fill our lift bag with air, and send the grab up to the surface. Sam is standing by on the zodiac to pull it in. So that’s the grab retrieved. Now we have Hurricane Fiona to contend with. Claire, Christy and Millie are relieved after they recover the grab. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation. We’ve come into Shelburne harbour to hide from the storm. Everyone has been watching the weather forecast intently tracking the system as it moves up the coast. This morning has been calm but now the wind is increasing, whistling over the bow. We move around the ship making sure everything is secure. Christy and I carefully wrap the microscopes in bubble wraps and pack them safely under the tables. Hurricane Fiona approaches. Credit: https://windy.app/ Geoff, expedition leader, summons us all to the legacy room for a meeting. We all squeeze in, perching on the arms of sofas and filling all the floor space in the small room. What would we do if the ship starts to sink in the storm? someone nervously asks. Geoff reminds us of the drill we practiced the first day. ‘Grab your immersion suits and lifejackets and head to the muster stations’. He also reminds us that the Polar Prince is an icebreaker and used to crashing its way through pack ice and high seas up in the Arctic. In this sheltered location we shouldn’t have any trouble. But it still doesn’t completely ease our nerves. The mood does become lighter though when zodiac driver Gen brings in a massive sack of storm chips that the crew have picked up in town. We pass around bowls of popcorn and chips and chat before heading to our bunks. The crew gather to enjoy some storm chips. Credit: Millie Mannering I’m surprised to wake up at seven in the morning, almost too late for breakfast. I’d expected a bumpy night, but I haven’t felt a thing. The Polar Prince has ridden out the storm. Talk over breakfast is about news from home. Many friends and relatives have lost power, but all are safe. Our thoughts are with the hard-hit communities in PEI, northern Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. We pass the rest of the day at anchor, waiting for the winds to drop enough to head out to sea. Christy and I take the chance to catch up on sample processing and data entry. But we do manage to join in with a yoga session in the hangar, which feels great after bending over a microscope. The storm is buffeting the hangar as we enjoy a yoga session. Credit: Students on Ice Foundation.

#SOI, #HuntsmanMarine, #OCE, #30x30, #expedition, #marineprotectedarea #research, #blueeconomy I duck behind a boulder to try to get out of the current as I collect my sample. There is so much life on the sloping seabed that I don’t know which species to grab first. Large horse mussels form tight clusters on the bottom. Fan-like bryozoans, bright orange encrusting sponges, and delicate seaweeds cover their surface. Large winter flounder glide between the clusters. A gigantic lobster is pursuing my buddy Millie as she tries to take some video. But from the massive grin on her face and her hand signals I can see she is enjoying her first dive in Eastern Canada. After twenty minutes the current becomes too strong for us to be able to hold onto the bottom. I deploy a buoy so the boat can see that we are coming up and Millie and I start to ascend. As soon as the buoy is up the tide catches us and we shoot off down the Brier Island's Grand Passage, an experience to rival any fairground ride. The seabed in Grand Passage, Briar Island, has a rich animal life including winter flounder. Credit: Millie Mannering. Millie Mannering, my dive buddy, joined the Polar Prince in Digby. She’s a 23-year-old Kiwi, on a year long scholarship with the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society®. Since 1974, this society has provided experiences to young people considering careers in the underwater world. Each year the society selects a scholar from North America, Europe, and Australasia. Scholars spend a year traveling the world and gaining exposure and firsthand experience. The scholars work with leaders in marine-related fields and partake in endeavors ranging from scientific expeditions to equipment testing and design. You can find out more about Millie and the scholarship here www.owuscholarship.org/content/amelia-millie-mannering. Millie has extensive scientific diving experience and its great to have her join the Huntsman team for this expedition. Claire, Millie, Christy and Sam formed the dive team. Credit: Millie Mannering. We are trying to dive in as many different habitats as possible on this trip to collect a broad range of species. We dive off the Polar Prince’s Zodiac, ably skippered by Sam Dews. Sam also has a lot of dive experience and has just finished a National Geographic ‘Pristine Seas’ expedition on the Polar Prince to the Arctic. We are hoping not to need his dive medical technician skills though. I’m not sure if I feel reassured or scared when he tells me the boat first aid kit has hypodermic syringes in it in case we need treatment for a pneumothorax! (a collapsed lung caused by an air bubble; the syringe can be plunged into the chest to remove the air). Christy acts as our surface safety attendant, recording our times in an out and standing by with oxygen kit in case we need it to treat dive injuries. This tiny sea slug was collected from the Brier Island eelgrass bed. After our first dive on the Brier Island horse mussel bed, we head into calmer waters near shore. Millie and I slip into a beautiful dense seagrass bed. The lush green frond waft gently in the waves. I start to photograph and pluck off the tiny snails, sea slugs and crustaceans that cover them. We’ve also promised to bring Christy up some of the rich mud under the seagrass. It’s bound to be full of polychaete worms. Millie has the enviable task of filling one of our plastic collection bags. I almost lose sight of her through the large cloud of silt she generates as she ploughs the bag into the mud to fill it. Millie collects a bag of worm filled mud for Christy. Credit: Claire Goodwin. The next day we reach Seal Island. Nova Scotia Nature Trust protect 80% of this ‘Wonderous foggy Isle’ which lies 32 km offshore at the extreme southwest of Nova Scotia. Its pristine habitats, include stunted, mossy forest, salt marsh, bog and barachois pond, rocky shore, sandy beach, and grass dunes. These play host to tens of thousands of birds annually on their migratory journey (learn more at https://nsnt.ca/our-work/campaigns-and-projects/project/seal-island/). Once home to up to two hundred people who worked fishing and lobster canning, the island now has no permanent inhabitants, although it is still used seasonally. I haven’t dived at Seal Island before and the old dive book I have mostly focuses on wrecks around the island. The westerly winds limit us to diving on the east side. We head out in the zodiac to find a good site. I spot some large boulders on the shore and decide that might be a good place to jump in, often the shore habitat continues underwater. Millie and I are greeted by vast boulders, some over three meters high. Kelp forest undulates on their tops. But I am most excited by the dense animal life on the sides of the boulders. I frantically start photographing and scooping invertebrates into bags. Christy has tasked Millie with collecting kelp holdfasts (attachment points) for Christy. Many species live in these and Christy will spend hours teasing them out later. After the dive we happily head back, our collection bags full of our haul. We will be working late tonight in the lab to document and preserve all our specimens. Good thing the galley has a constant supply of coffee!

#SOI, #HuntsmanMarine, #OCE, #30x30, #expedition, #marineprotectedarea #research, #blueeconomy Our second day onboard was sunny and calm and so we took advantage and went sampling in the Minas Basin off the shore of Cape Blomidon. Many of the invertebrate species we that interest us in live inside sand or mud seabeds. So, to sample them we need to bring a chunk of the seabed up to the surface. To do this we use a grab sampler which, as the name suggests, grabs a piece of the sediment in its jaws. Working from the Polar Prince's small zodiac boats we deployed our 9x9 ponar mud grab. Sampling was tricky as parts of the seabed are rock here, and the grab sampler can't collect that. But, after a few attempts we collected four buckets of sand and pebble sediment. With several eager student helpers, we spent an enjoyable sunny afternoon ashore collecting at low tide. Flipping rocks to collect crabs and molluscs underneath them and hand sieving mud. Onboard we sieved the samples through a 0.5mm mesh to remove the animals from the sediment. Then under a microscope pulled out individual specimens. Most of the species we find are tiny polychaete worms, which often make up 60-70% of seabed samples. Grab sampling from the zodiac. Credit: Students On Ice (SOI), Martin Lipman Then began the work of curating the specimens for DNA barcoding. We gave each specimen a field identification and photographed it. Then we placed it into an individual vial of 95% ethanol (alcohol) for DNA preservation. We need to track the specimens carefully, so a sample ID label also goes into the jar with a unique number. We also must record collection information (e.g., region, date, habitat, GPS coordinates, depth, sampling protocol) for each specimen. This is critically important for the Barcode of Life project, both for quality control purposes and so that we can track exactly where species live, examine their ranges, and learn their habitats. Christy pulling individuals of different species from samples. Credit: Students on Ice, Martin Lipman A DNA barcode workflow and a BOLD specimen data page for a polychaete worm. So, what is a barcode? DNA barcodes use a portion of a single gene – cytochrome c oxidase I – to identify the species to which an organism belongs. We remove a small piece of tissue from each specimen and extract the DNA from the cells present in it. Then we use primer to target the ‘barcode region’. The primers latch onto the DNA on either side of the target region, instructing where to make copies. Then we use PCR to make millions of copies of the gene region, so that we have enough to run though a sequencer. This gives us a 658 base pair nucleotide sequence, which is unique to each species. The reason scientists chose this mitochondrial gene region is because it does a great job of telling species apart. We don't find many differences between specimens from the same species (0-2%). But when we compare specimens from different species, we find differences of around 3-16%. These sequences are then visualized on a tree, which groups specimens based on how similar their barcodes are. We can use DNA barcoding to catalogue biodiversity, to assist with taxonomic identifications where morphological differences may be lacking (cryptic species), to identify various life stages and reproductive forms, incomplete specimens, or even market fish! A tree built with DNA barcodes showing the distinction between species of polychaete worms collected from St. Andrews, NB Our project will create a barcode library for Atlantic Canadian marine invertebrate species. It's funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada under a stream which aims to develop tools for monitoring marine protected areas. Our project will link into the international Barcode of Life Project. Since it started in 2010, the Barcode of Life Project has grown to span 26 nations. The online workbench, Barcode of Life Datasystem (BOLD), now houses more than 9 million records representing 244 K animal species, 72 K plant species, and 24 K fungi and other species. I (Christy) was a part of the early days of the BOLD project, as a MSc student studying polychaete diversity in Canadian waters. Now, I am so happy to be a part of this initiative again. This will allow scientists to use new monitoring techniques like environmental DNA (eDNA) to study the ocean. Scientists collect eDNA samples, such as water samples, and extract DNA from them. They then match the DNA they find to barcode databases like BOLD. This is a non-invasive way of telling which species are or have been present in an area. But only if the barcode libraries are complete - that's where we come in.

18th September 2022 #SOI, #HuntsmanMarine, #OCE, #30x30, #expedition, #marineprotectedarea #research, #blueeconomy It's raining when we first set eyes on the Polar Prince in Saint John. My kids have come to drop me off and are in awe at the size of the boat – and, for my speed freak son, all the small zodiac boats on its deck. This indigenous-owned 67 m long icebreaker is more used to operating in the icy waters of the Arctic. But for this trip will be sailing through the Bay of Fundy and along the shoreline of Nova Scotia. It will be our home for the next 11 days while I (Dr. Claire Goodwin, HMSC Research Scientist in Biodiversity and Taxonomy) and Christina Carr (HMSC Taxonomic specialist) take part in the Students on Ice Foundation's first-ever Ocean Conservation Expedition. However, first, we must get all our sampling gear on board. On this trip, we aim to collect as many different species of marine invertebrates as possible. We are creating a genetic barcode library of Atlantic Canadian marine invertebrate life (more about barcoding in future blogs). We'll be grab sampling, collecting on the shore, and SCUBA diving to get specimens. So, we've brought sediment grabs, a lot of SCUBA gear, a compressor for filling SCUBA tanks, two huge oxygen tanks, microscopes for examining samples, cameras for photographing animals, and many jars and preservatives for the hundreds of specimens we aim to collect. Luckily the boat has a crane, and we can lower most of the kit onto the fore deck and into the container where we will store it. Claire and Christy supervise the deck crane lowering their gear onto the Polar Prince. After lunch, when all our gear is safely stowed, we gather in the large hangar at the back of the deck to meet other participants and learn about the expedition from Students on Ice founder Geoff Green. The expedition will visit many distinct and critical marine environments along its route. It aims to build awareness and connection to regional ocean environments through engagement and education, enable enhanced monitoring and stewardship, and enhance local capacity for meaningful participation in conservation. As we introduce ourselves around the circle, I am surprised by the breadth of experience on board. As well as scientists, there are artists, filmmakers, and indigenous and non-indigenous youth. As an icebreaker, Geoff asks us to say what the ocean means to us. Answers range from relaxation to wonder. For me, it is discovery – we haven't explored much of our oceans, even in long inhabited areas like Canada. What will we find on this trip? Then it is lines off, and the pilot boat guides us out of Saint John. The sun is shining and sparkles on the flat waters of the harbour. We'll sail overnight, arriving tomorrow morning in Minas Basin at the northeastern tip of the Bay of Fundy. The Polar Prince steams towards Minas Basin through the calm Bay of Fundy.