Marine Telemetry: Shedding Light Below the Waves
have sparse management.“You know, we have no idea where marine species are spending most of their time. We have no idea if marine protected areas are working. That was kind of the motivation behind it,” said Nakia Cullen, a research manager at Megafauna Foundation and PhD candidate at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Cullen lives and works in Zavora, Mozambique, an area rich with sharks and manta rays, but also data deficient and lacking the extensive management necessary. While her research started as underwater visual surveys, Cullen has been able to delve into telemetry in the past few years
Happy to be Blue
marine research.As published in the March/April edition of Marine Technology Reporter“There’s something compelling about the color blue,” said Dr. Anya Waite, scientific director and CEO of the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) and associate and vice president research (ocean) at Dalhousie University. As the bright sky shone through her office window and the waters of Halifax Harbor glimmered through the tree line, blue seemed to be even more inspiring. OFI, based on Dalhousie’s campus, is an interdisciplinary research partnership between the university, Memorial University of Newfoundlan
Insights from the 50th International Congress of Maritime Museums
to Indigenous VoicesAs a country trying to make reparation after centuries of indigenous genocide and land colonization, Canada has begun to focus on inclusivity and diversity in many discussions —maritime museums included. Dr. Jerry Bannister, director of the marine affairs program at Dalhousie University in Halifax, explained that museums have the power to set the infrastructure for what tourists should see and learn while visiting. When working with and on colonized land, he advised, there are three angles to keep in mind:1. Content—what histories do we discuss?2. Perspective&mdash
NOAA Forecasts Average Summer 'Dead Zone' in the Gulf of Mexico
NOAA has produced a dead zone forecast using a suite of models jointly developed by the agency and its partners — teams of researchers at the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University, William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, North Carolina State University, Dalhousie University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who provided the Mississippi River nutrient loading data for the models. NOAA integrates the results of these multiple models into an aggregate forecast and releases the forecast in coordination with these external groups, some of whom are also developing
AUV Extravaganza: Tech Advances in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
any need to communicate, he says.The company got an initial break via the Jerico program, to develop a simple AUV that meets science users’ needs. Since then its seen its AUVs deployed in all five oceans, says Teixero, mostly for ocean science or survey related operations.One project, with Dalhousie University, saw the YUCO-PHYSICO AML multi-parameter probe model used in the St. Lawrence River estuary in Canada. The vehicle had an AML 3 sonde with fluorimeter, CTD and SVP and chased and ran a corkscrew or helix style pattern with a 30m radius (Seaber says 15m is possible) through a Rhodamine tracer
Atlantic Canada’s First Instream Tidal Energy Set for Delivery in Early 2022
record marine life interactions in the high-flow environment.Hundreds of hours and terabytes of data have been collected and analysed to date. Sustainable Marine is also collaborating with the Ocean Tracking Network - a global aquatic research, data management and partnership organization based at Dalhousie University - and have installed two acoustic receivers on the platform to detect tagged fish. Data collected will help inform understanding of the movement of aquatic species around the system.In addition to this comprehensive environmental monitoring effort, Sustainable Marine has engaged with Mi&rsquo
MTR100: When it Comes to Drones, Big is Good. <1m is Better.
November last year, UK-based ecoSUB Robotics started selling its micro AUVs to customers and there are now 50-60 out in the wild with various payloads, says Terry Sloane, managing director at parent company Planet Ocean. Customers spread from Africa to Japan include Plymouth Marine Laboratory and Dalhousie University.The company was set up in 2015 and has had Innovate UK and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (UK MOD) funding and has collaborated with the Marine Autonomous Robotics Systems Group at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre.Its now commercial ecoSUBµ5 Micro-AUV is 92cm long
Academia’s Climate Change Challenge is Far from Academic
the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), the Ocean Frontier Institute, and the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network is working towards their protection. Using a fleet of OTN gliders operated by the Coastal Environmental Observation Technology and Research group based at Dalhousie University, the project monitors North Atlantic right whales in the gulf of the St. Lawrence River using autonomous underwater gliders.OTN executive director Fred Whoriskey explained the technology behind the Teledyne Marine Slocum gliders in use. Each is battery-powered and can remain at sea for up
A Net-zero Future Depends on the Ocean’s Ability to Absorb Carbon
internationally if they are grounded in strong, and strongly integrated, natural and social sciences. It is time for the research community to step up in their support.The authorsAnya M. Waite is CEO and scientific director of Ocean Frontier Institute, and a professor and associate VP research at Dalhousie University.Brad deYoung is a Robert Bartlett professor of oceanography at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.Chris Milley is an adjunct professor of marine affairs at Dalhousie University.Ian G. Stewart is an associate professor of humanities at University of King's College.(Source: The
February 2024
