What a busy field season the MCA team will have this year!  First up, we're headed back to Funk Island Marine Refuge for monitoring the soft coral gardens (July 4-16th) onboard the RV Connor Murphy.  

Our Core Monitoring trip will have two legs, the first is from July 31st to August 16th in Hawke Channel, and the second leg from August 16th to the 30th, in the Division 3O Coral Closure, both utilizing the RV Patrick and William.

We're also supporting science activities as part of the Innu Nation-led Uinipeku Expedition https://www.uinipekuexpedition.ca/  (June 22-July 15th) and as part of Miawpukek First Nation-led expedition on the ship Oqwatnukewey Eleke'wi'ji'jit (MV Polar Prince).

Follow along by year in the drop down menus above!

Cold water corals and sponges are fragile, slow to recover, structure-providing species. The high concentrations of these structure-forming species provide habitat for many other species.

Using sites within the MCAs, our team uses largely non-invasive techniques while monitoring the stations. Research activities to be conducted at sea include water column characterization using acoustics (EK80 and WBAT), habitat mapping using multibeam (Kongsberg 710), benthic habitat characterization and fish/invertebrate identification using drop-drift and baited cameras, pelagic microzooplankton characterization using bongo nets, oceanographic sampling using our new SBE 19plus CTD/rosette and eDNA water sampling, and opportunistic seabird and mammal identifications.