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Data Now Streaming From Cambridge Bay

Overview

After a year and a half in development with the Government of Nunavut and the community of Cambridge Bay, a new community observatory is now streaming continuous data from the Arctic seafloor. In August 2012, the Nunavut Research Institute granted a five-year research license to Ocean Networks Canada to install and operate the first year-round cabled undersea monitoring system of the northern waters. “This specially designed scaled-down version of our seafloor networks off the coast of Vancouver Island will support longer-term science-based understanding of the dramatic changes taking place in Arctic waters,” says Dr. Kim Juniper, the associate director of science for NEPTUNE Canada, as he introduced the system at the annual Arctic Net conference held this year in Vancouver. “These changes include the historic receding of the northern sea ice and its impact on marine ecosystems.” In September, hurrying to beat the oncoming winter ice, the observatory’s engineering and systems team were able to complete the final installation at Cambridge Bay with assistance from community organizations and individuals, as well as vital support from the Nunavut Government. (Thanks to Beth and her class from Killinick High School for visiting with our team: Ryan Flagg, Martin Hoffman, Ryan Key) Following a two-month commissioning period, the miniature cabled ocean observatory and companion surface weather station are reporting continuous data to the archive system at the University of Victoria. The information streaming from the instruments—including an underwater camera, ice profiler and sensors measuring temperature, depth and salinity—is freely available over the internet. In the months ahead, education, science and operations staff will be working with Cambridge Bay schools to develop educational programs and support collaborative projects with the coastal Arctic research community.

UVic and ONC research and technology on display for Prime Minister’s Northern Tour

Overview

**NEWS RELEASE**
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.** Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mrs. Laureen Harper and key government representatives gathered dockside with UVic President Jamie Cassels and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) President Kate Moran to view firsthand the latest instrumentation that showcases Canadian science and technology in the Arctic. On his ninth annual week-long Northern Tour, the Prime Minister’s itinerary includes the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, where he stopped in Cambridge Bay to learn about northern initiatives in ocean science and technology, including ONC’s cabled community observatory.

Ocean Networks Canada Partners to Protect the Arctic

Overview

The University of Victoria’s Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is partnering with the University of Manitoba to develop, install and maintain the cabled estuary observatory component of a new Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO) in Hudson Bay. The CMO, formally announced by the federal government on July 6 in Churchill—Canada’s only Arctic deep-water port—will be a multidisciplinary facility where researchers will study the impact of oil spills on sea ice and investigate issues related to marine transportation and resource development in the Arctic. ![Can_Infrastructure_Partners_Jn2015_small.jpg](https://cdn.onc-prod.intergalactic.space/Can_Infrastructure_Partners_Jn2015_small_feef916085.jpg) The facility, led by the University of Manitoba, is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Province of Manitoba. CFI has provided $200,000 to UVic for the ONC portion. The ONC contribution involves a cabled observatory to be built in the mouth of the Churchill estuary, along the main shipping channel across Hudson Bay and Strait, providing a state-of-the-art monitoring system designed to strengthen Canada’s ability to protect the Arctic environment. The collaboration builds on the success of ONC’s world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled observatories and, since 2012, a community observatory in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. “We’re thrilled to be part of this ambitious project that will bring real-time ocean observing to Hudson Bay,” says ONC Chief Scientist Dr. Kim Juniper. “This will be our second Arctic observatory, which adds to ONC’s growing network of coastal observing systems in Canada’s three oceans.”

Expanding the Cambridge Bay observatory (2015)

Overview

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is in its third year of delivering ocean data from the Arctic Ocean with a new observatory platform and expanded suite of instruments and sensors that monitor the health of the northern ocean. From 15 to 31 August, an ONC operations and user services team visited the hamlet of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, to service and upgrade both the underwater platforms and the above ground weather station located steps from the busy community dock. The platform now hosts three times as many sensors as the original version.

Sea Ice Research and its Benefits

Overview

**Understanding Sea Ice: Ocean Networks Canada Coordinates POLAR Safe Passage Project**. Imagine an area of the size of Ontario ‒ gone. That’s roughly the amount of Arctic sea-ice that has melted in the last 30 years: over 1 million square km. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: some climate change forecasts are predicting an ice-free summer Arctic Ocean by as early as 2030. Understanding sea-ice change is critical to life in the high north, particularly when it comes to getting around. Local transportation and commercial shipping are defined by the Arctic’s shifting seasonal extremes, which is becoming harder to predict. Not only is the thickness and extent of the frozen ocean shrinking, but the dates of freeze-up, break-up and the duration of solid ice and clear water are shifting dramatically. This warming cocktail of unpredictable conditions is increasing the cost and risk of local transportation, commercial shipping and marine operations, making safe-passage precarious.

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

Overview

In late summer 2016, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut found itself at the centre of an arctic crossroads of sorts: a pivotal meeting place where ice-bound history is melting into climate science. A week after the first luxury cruise ship sailed through a virtually ice-free Northwest Passage and anchored in Cambridge Bay, the wreck of Franklin’s ship The Terror—abandoned in 1845 due to impenetrable sea-ice—was finally discovered in Terror Bay, just 200 km east. The coincidence in time and place of these two iconic voyages poignantly highlights how quickly the arctic climate is changing, the need to monitor these changes, and the growing importance of Cambridge Bay as an emerging arctic hub.

Arctic sea ice: slow growth in 2016

Overview

While global temperature tracking is suggesting 2016 will follow 2014 and 2015 as the warmest year on record, the effects are acute and immediate in the Canadian Arctic where [climate change has already warmed more than twice the global average](http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-sea-ice-record-low-20903). This warming is having a dramatic effect on Arctic sea ice, with reports of both low geographic coverage and low total thickness.

United States and Canada unite to protect the Arctic

Overview

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) applauds the United States and Canada in their resolve to embrace opportunities and confront challenges in the changing Arctic through Indigenous partnerships and responsible, science-based leadership. On 20 December, President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau issued a United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders’ Statement to launch actions ensuring a strong, sustainable, and viable Arctic economy and ecosystem. Actions include low-impact shipping, science-based management of marine resources, and freedom from the future risks of offshore oil and gas activity. Together, these actions set the stage for deeper partnerships with other Arctic nations, including through the Arctic Council.

The Great Thaw: our melting Arctic must be monitored and Canada should lead the way

Overview

The following OpEd written by Ocean Networks Canada President Kate Moran was published in [The Hill Times](http://www.hilltimes.com/2017/05/08/great-thaw-melting-arctic-must-monitored-canada-lead-way/105923) on Monday, 8 May 2017. Imagine autumn in the Gatineau’s without trees, or the Rideau River without water. Now imagine the Arctic without ice. All unimaginable images, yet despite our proud “Great White North” designation, the problem in grasping the magnitude of this meltdown is that it seems so far away. In fact, the vast majority of Canada’s 35 million citizens know only of the Arctic through the pages of school textbooks, and it’s easy to see why. According to the 2016 census, 66% of Canadians live within 100 kilometres of the U.S. border, as far from the Arctic as possible, representing just 4% of Canada’s total territory. The dramatic melting of sea ice impacts nearly everyone on the planet. In 2016/17, Canada saw the Rideau Canal open for just 25 skating days, Vancouver blanketed with more snow in one week than in two years, the Prairies endure their most intense storm season on record, and Fort McMurray weather their driest spring in over 70 years before “The Beast” wildfire became the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. The scientific community has long warned about the irreversible effects of a steady rise in global temperatures on our Arctic, even influencing some Hollywood blockbusters. And although the slow burn has materialized into tangible results over the years, too many have grown accustomed to thinking of climate change in Day After Tomorrow-like scenarios. Think of it not as a sprint, but a marathon.

All Eyes on Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Overview

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