Ocean Networks Canada is kicking off a year of exciting research and innovation at the Endeavour node of the NEPTUNE observatory with a show of support from the Canadian Government.

Today’s $1.62 million funding commitment through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s 2012 Leading Edge Fund is intended for future study and continuous monitoring of the Endeavour Segment.

"This funding support will nearly triple Ocean Networks Canada's current instrumentation at this spectacular location in the deep ocean and will provide a new way of monitoring the health of remote marine protected areas.” says Dr. Kim Juniper, NEPTUNE Canada's Associate Director of Science. "It's a huge vote of confidence in the technology we offer to the global research community."

Located more than two kilometres below the surface, the Endeavour site is set in a challenging mid-ocean ridge environment featuring hot vent fields and actively spreading ocean crust, approximately 300 km offshore Vancouver Island in the northeast Pacific Ocean.

The University of Victoria’s Dr. Laurence Coogan will lead a consortium of ten principal researchers from seven institutions across North America in this $4 million initiative to further investigate the hot fluids discharging from a secton of the volcanic chain that encircles the Earth beneath the oceans.

Principal users include:

• Laurence Coogan, University of Victoria
• David Butterfield, University of Washington
• Christopher German, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Kathryn Gillis, University of Victoria
• Mark Hannington, University of Ottawa
• Kim Juniper, University of Victoria
• Marvin Lilley, University of Washington
• Anna Metaxas, Dalhousie University
• William Seyfried, University of Minnesota
• William Wilcock, University of Washington

Dr. Laurence Coogan on future research plans at Endeavour
In the following clips, Dr. Coogan provides an overview of the project:

What does the Leading Edge Fund mean for future research at the Endeavour site?