Deep in the ocean off Vancouver Island’s west coast, a gas associated with climate warming is making its way to the surface. Nitrous oxide is a product of plankton decomposition, pulled to the surface in areas where deep-sea waters migrate upwards in what’s known as coastal upwelling. Where is it coming from? That’s a question that University of Victoria PhD student Brett Jameson is exploring, in collaboration with Ocean Networks Canada and the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network.

Despite the usual complexity of working in the deep sea—with a global pandemic to boot—Ocean Networks Canada successfully maintained, upgraded and expanded hundreds of offshore, inshore and coastal ocean observing instruments and sensors this year. This interactive ESRI story map summarizes the year’s highlights and successes in advancing technology, science, community engagement and partnerships on all three of Canada’s coasts.

Research that demonstrates low oxygen levels in the depths of Saanich Inlet might seem like concerning news; after all, marine life needs oxygen to survive. But on a planet facing climate change, this is also good news: without oxygen, the organisms living on the seafloor, or benthos, can't decompose, thus reducing the amount of carbon that cycles back to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas. New research using ONC's cabled ocean observing infrastructure provides further evidence as to why this deep Vancouver Island fjord is a natural place that stores carbon, also known as a carbon sink.

NEW Summer Webinar Series! While many of us transition to working and learning from home during this extraordinary time, we invite you to dive into Ocean Networks Canada’s continuous real time data and online offerings. Whether you are a parent or teacher with kids at home, an undergraduate student studying the ocean, or an ocean enthusiast, we have something for everyone. Watch for new content coming to our Learning from Home page. 

As we plunge into a pivotal new decade for the health of our planet, philosopher Soren Kierkegaard reminds us that the key to moving forward is to understand our past. Ocean Networks Canada’s tenth anniversary in the deep sea is a poignant opportunity to look at the past, present and future of ocean observing, as seen through the eyes of an emerging ocean science leader whose promising career began with the launch of ONC’s NEPTUNE network in the northeast Pacific Ocean, Dr. Katleen Robert. 

Deploying and maintaining the Internet-connected ocean is a complex and ambitious undertaking. For starters, water and electronics do not play well together and the crushing deep sea pressure makes it impossible for humans to survive at depths below ~100 metres without a submersible. Then factor in wind, weather, currents, tides, the technical challenges of innovative ocean observing infrastructure, and seasonal access. Despite all this, ONC has been successfully bringing continuous real-time ocean data to the surface since 2006. Scroll through this interactive ESRI story map to see highlights of successes achieved in 2019.

During this 2-week expedition aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Vessel John P. Tully, a team of 17 scientists, engineers, technicians and data specialists will conduct operations to maintain, install and improve infrastructure and instrumentation on ONC's cabled observing networks, with the support of Pelagic Research Services ROV Odysseus.

Ocean Networks Canada hosted a group of scientists and students from around the world at the third Marine Imaging Workshop from 24-28 June at the University of Victoria. The purpose of the workshop was to continue encouraging multidisciplinary communication between researchers, industry and engineers who perform biological, geological and computer science using underwater images (photos and/or videos) to discuss the challenges and future directions in marine imaging.

During this 2-week expedition aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Vessel John P. Tully using Pelagic Research Services ROV Odysseus, a team of 17 scientists, engineers, technicians and data specialists will conduct operations to maintain, install and improve infrastructure and instrumentation on Ocean Networks Canada’s cabled observing networks in the Salish Sea, and deep sea offshore sites at Barkley Canyon, Endeavour, Cascadia Basin, and Clayoquot Slope.

Tanner crabs observed feasting at a bubbling methane seep on the deep seafloor in the northeast Pacific Ocean may be developing a way to adapt to climate change, says a marine ecologist from the University of Victoria whose work with Oregon-based researchers establishes for the first time that a commercially-harvested species is feeding on the energy source.

Ocean Networks Canada concluded its 2018 series of international science theme workshops this past fall with two events, one on observing and monitoring fisheries management/ecosystem functioning and biodiversity and another on sediment transport/carbon burial. The workshops were co-hosted by ONC senior staff scientists and ONC science theme leaders, who are uniquely positioned to connect ONC infrastructure and data with the international research community.

​Following the installation of the final set of underwater earthquake early warning sensors off the west coast of Canada, ONC marks a significant operational milestone in partnership with the operator of Vancouver’s Canada Line rapid transit system. A simulated exercise—as if responding to a megathrust earthquake affecting the Canada Line—demonstrates how the network will help data end-users such as transit authorities respond to emergencies.​

Imagine exploring Banff National Park and discovering mountains that no one knew were there. That’s what happened during our recent Northeast Pacific Seamounts Expedition, in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Oceana Canada, the Haida Nation and Ocean Networks Canada. While mapping and exploring these underwater volcanoes, the science team aboard exploration vessel Nautilus discovered six previously unknown seamounts ⎯along with an extraordinary diversity and abundance of marine life. These discoveries successfully fulfilled the mission’s goal of learning more about these biodiversity hotspots to inform future protection measures.

Ocean Networks Canada is installing specialized equipment at its deepest site in the northeast Pacific Ocean to assess the location’s suitability for observing one of the universe’s most essential and difficult-to-study ingredients—neutrinos. An initiative of the University of Victoria, ONC is deploying the equipment as part of Expedition 2018: Wiring the Abyss, its annual offshore expedition to install and improve cabled observatory infrastructure. Neutrinos are one of the universe’s most essential ingredients and most abundant subatomic particles, produced by nuclear reactions from solar fusion, radioactive decay and exploding stars.