Search results

ONC hosts international ocean acidification workshop

Overview

![trio-group-pic.jpg](https://cdn.onc-prod.intergalactic.space/trio_group_pic_dd67a5b21a.jpg) ONC hosted an international workshop 7-8 February during which scientists and sensor developers discussed the importance of obtaining accurate and reliable data from ocean-observing systems for ocean acidification. “We hold workshops like this to bring together the research and technology communities to accelerate the development of sensors needed for making critical measurements in the ocean,” says ONC chief scientist [Kim Juniper](https://twitter.com/Ocean_Networks/status/961319168678096896). “We need ocean sensors to be more accurate and more robust so that researchers can make more progress in addressing problems like ocean acidification.” The workshop featured ONC science theme leader Jim Christian, research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, and an adjunct faculty member at UVic. Workshop participants included researchers from Canada (DFO, Dalhousie University, University of Calgary, Hakai Institute, Pro-Oceanus Systems Inc.); the U.S. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Sea-Bird Scientific); Japan (National Research Institute for Far Seas Fisheries/Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Sasakawa Peace Foundation); the UK (British Oceanographic Data Centre) and Germany (GEOMAR/Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel). Ocean acidification occurs when atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in the ocean, forming carbonic acid and making seawater more acidic. A more acidic ocean has a detrimental impact on marine organisms that form calcium carbonate shells, like juvenile oysters, clams and mussels—and even some types of photosynthetic plankton that are at the base of the marine food chains. In a more acidic ocean, shell growth can be stunted and survival rates decreased. It is important that data collected from autonomous sensors be reliable as it increases the affordability of comprehensive ocean observing systems, allowing scientists to measure ocean acidification over time in diverse areas and to capture episodic or unexpected events.

ONC’s Endeavour, Northern Cascadia science workshops attract international researchers

Overview

![Workshop-groups.jpg](https://cdn.onc-prod.intergalactic.space/Workshop_groups_14c0fbebd2.jpg) Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) hosted two international science workshops in March at the University of Victoria’s Technology Enterprise Facility where researchers focused on expansion at the Endeavour node of ONC’s NEPTUNE observatory and ONC’s Northern Cascadia subduction zone observatory seafloor geodesy project. At the 19-20 March Endeavour workshop, researchers discussed how existing and new infrastructure on the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge can best be used to further the understanding of ridge axis processes and produce data to maximize scientific returns. “The spectacular Endeavour vents have attracted international research attention since they were discovered in the early 1980s and have produced many firsts, from the hottest black smokers and the tallest chimneys to the most heat-tolerant animals and microbes—not to mention being the location of the world’s first hydrothermal vent marine protected area,” says ONC chief scientist Kim Juniper. “Endeavour has also become the world’s most international deep-sea cabled observatory site, with instruments from research labs in Canada, the U.S., France, and soon China—all connected to ONC’s NEPTUNE observatory, providing real-time data to researchers around the world.” The workshop focused on how expanded instrumentation at Endeavour will improve the ability of scientists to continuously monitor and study the northern segment of this mid-ocean ridge, located more than two kilometres below sea level and set in a challenging deep ocean environment that includes hot vent fields and actively spreading ocean crust approximately 250 kilometres offshore Vancouver Island. New instruments and sensors will be deployed at Endeavour this summer as part of ONC’s Expedition 2018: Wiring the Abyss. Hydrothermal vents at Endeavour are part of the Canadian federal government’s first [marine protected area](http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/mpa-zpm/endeavour-eng.html), established in 2003, and host a biologically diverse and productive ecosystem that is home to globally unique and distinct native animal species. Endeavour workshop participants included researchers from Canada (University of Calgary), the U.S. (University of Washington; University of California-San Diego; University of Minnesota; University of Georgia), Japan (Tohoku University), China (IDSSE/Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences), and France (IFREMER/French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea). ONC’s science theme leader for Endeavour is Laurence Coogan, a marine geologist, geochemist, and professor at UVic’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences. At the 21-22 March Northern Cascadia workshop, researchers were brought together to work on the [North Cascadia subduction zone observatory seafloor geodesy project](https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/2017+innovation-grants-support-uvic-research+media-release), which would provide further critical information on seismic risks in British Columbia. The Northern Cascadia observatory will be operated on ONC’s offshore NEPTUNE observatory, a cabled ocean monitoring system that crosses the major fault zone between the converging Juan de Fuca and North American tectonic plates. The proposed observatory seeks to equip scientists with the tools and data needed for the comprehensive study of these plates, whose movements trigger earthquakes and tsunamis. The observatory proposal consists of a network of deep-sea geodesy stations that would monitor and measure plate deformation and “slow-slip” tectonic movement. These sophisticated seafloor stations would communicate acoustically with an autonomous Wave Glider surface vehicle, collecting and transmitting information to ONC's Oceans 2.0 data management system. Northern Cascadia workshop participants included researchers from Canada (Natural Resources Canada/Pacific Geoscience Centre; Ocean Floor Geophysics; University of Victoria; University of Calgary), the U.S. (University of Washington; Scripps Institution of Oceanography/University of California-San Diego), Japan (Tohoku University), and Germany (GEOMAR/Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel). The interdisciplinary team—led by ONC staff scientist Martin Heesemann—also discussed how to maximize scientific return of the infrastructure proposal and generate ideas for future initiatives.

ONC wraps up 2018 science theme series with international workshops in Spain, at new UVic ocean-climate home

Overview

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) 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. ONC science theme leader Jacopo Aguzzi and ONC scientist Fabio De Leo co-organized the 4-5 October fisheries management/ecosystem functioning and biodiversity workshop at the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona. Researchers collaborated on how to use ONC’s observatory infrastructure to enhance monitoring capacity related to the sustainable use of marine resources—particularly commercially exploited species in Canada—and ecosystem responses and adaptation to climate change, and to hear new perspectives from potential users. “The Barcelona workshop summoned experts from different areas of marine ecology in order to create common practices and platforms, and discuss data collection dedicated to the monitoring of ecosystem functioning via ONC’s cabled observatories and remotely controlled seafloor crawlers,” says Aguzzi, a benthic ecologist and chronobiology expert at ICM-CSIC whose work focuses on biodiversity, deep-sea species, and fisheries stock assessments. Workshop participants included researchers and scientists from Spain (ICM-CSIS, Polytechnic University of Catalonia-Remote Acquisition and Data Processing Systems); Italy (National Research Council-Institute of Marine Science, the Italian federal government’s agriculture ministry, Marche Polytechnic University, Anton Dohrn Zoological Station); Germany (Jacobs University); France (Institute of Microbiology of the Mediterranean); the U.K. (University College London, University of Edinburgh); Australia (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research); the U.S. (University of Hawaii, Marine Ecology and Technology Applications environmental consultants); and Canada (University of Victoria). “ONC’s infrastructure is progressively being finetuned to give access to complex data sets that allow real-time monitoring of ecosystem-based fisheries in the Pacific by end users everywhere, including the use of optoacoustic tools to identify commercially targeted species,” Aguzzi says. ONC science theme leader Pere Puig and Natural Resources Canada research scientist [Gwyn Lintern](https://profils-profiles.science.gc.ca/en/profile/dr-d-gwyn-lintern-phd) co-led the 27-28 November sediment transport/carbon burial workshop, which took place at ONC’s new headquarters in the [Ocean-Climate Building](https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/new-uvic-location-for-world-leading-ocean-and-climate-research/) on the University of Victoria’s Queenswood campus and was co-hosted by ONC scientist Martin Scherwath. Researchers discussed powerful turbidity flows in the Salish Sea from the [Fraser River delta](https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/tumbling-to-success-delta-dynamics-laboratory-becomes-scientific-highlight/) and the importance of nutrient cycling and energy transfer in aquatic ecosystems and food webs at Barkley Canyon offshore Vancouver Island. Discussions also concentrated on potential research of and publication opportunities for existing data from ONC’s inshore and offshore Pacific Ocean cabled observatories as well as possible new oceanographic instrumentation, scientific sites, and long-term time-series experiments. “This workshop provided scientists from around the world a close perspective on the potential for ONC data and infrastructure in studies on sediment dynamics, focusing on the implications of particulate organic carbon transport and accumulation in the marine ecosystem,” says Puig, an oceanographic geologist and head of marine geosciences at ICM-CSIC whose research interests centre on off-shelf and submarine canyon sediment transport processes. Workshop participants included researchers and scientists from Spain (ICM-CSIC); the Netherlands (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research); Germany (Jacobs University); the U.K. (National Oceanography Centre, Durham University); the U.S. (University of Washington, Oregon State University, Florida State University); and Canada (University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, University of Alberta). “This meeting brought us face-to-face with international scientists who are keenly interested in the details of our work and how they can get involved,” says Lintern, who specializes in marine geohazards at the Geological Survey of Canada’s Pacific Geoscience Centre in Sidney, British Columbia. “It also gave those researchers some inside knowledge on how ONC works and what it can offer, and helped demystify which data are available, who has access, and how the data can be obtained.” ONC’s earlier international science theme workshops in 2018 included two others: [Ocean acidification](https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/onc-hosts-international-ocean-acidification-workshop/) in February and [Endeavour expansion](https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/oncs-endeavour-northern-cascadia-science-workshops-attract-international-researchers/) in March.

Going deep on meroplankton

Overview

Senior staff scientist Fabio De Leo presented a talk on ONC’s potential to host a new research program based on sustained observations of deep-sea meroplankton at a workshop hosted at University of Aveiro in Portugal during the last week of May. The European Marine Research Network’s “Advances in ocean biological observations: Sustained system for deep-ocean meroplankton” workshop involved world experts on deep-sea biodiversity and conservation, and was co-sponsored by [InterRidge](https://www.interridge.org/) and [ISblue](https://www.isblue.fr/). “This was a great opportunity to bring to the international community how ONC can use its long-term ocean observing infrastructure in the deep northeast Pacific to contribute to a global program to sample and study meroplankton,” says De Leo, whose research focuses on benthic ecosystems, biodiversity and ecosystem function. The international workshop was organized around three main themes: 1) Advances in the knowledge of deep-sea larval diversity and distribution; 2) Recent developments in plankton observation approaches and technology; and 3) Data integration and oceanographic modelling. The main goals were to discuss: 1) How the existing gaps in the knowledge on connectivity and resilience in the deep ocean can be addressed by sustained observations of larval processes; 2) What are the technological challenges and added societal value of this approach; and 3) What synergies can be built with deep-ocean observation initiatives and existing observatory networks. The workshop was attended by 15 scientists, and others participated via videoconference from the U.S., Japan and Jamaica.

Marine imaging workshop advances ocean intelligence

Overview

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. The international workshop—chaired by ONC’s Mauricio Carrasquilla and Maia Hoeberechts—featured keynote talks by Roger Hanlon (senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown University) and Peter Mieras (Rendezvous Dive Adventures and Subvision Productions, Port Alberni, B.C.) along with a scientific program of talks and posters by attendees of the workshop. “The workshop was a great opportunity to advance on annotation standardizations from an interdisciplinary perspective,” says Carrasquilla. “It also showcased the latest research in machine learning, data acquisition and image enhancement, and how this can improve our understanding of the marine environment.” Discussions centred on automated and semi-automated annotation using new and emerging machine learning methods, which led to the idea of standards to reduce variability between datasets and research institutions to increase reusability. Participants also discussed survey design, imaging tools, image processing methods, image storage, annotation methods, machine learning and some holistic examples of the entire process, with the goal of sharing information between research groups. The workshop was attended by 56 experts from 10 different countries, including Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Poland and Brazil.