NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Objective(s): To characterize the Western Arctic Boundary Current, which flows at the edge of the continental shelf, in order to understand its role in dictating shelf-basin exchange of water and materials and how it impacts the ecosystem of the region, including the occurrence of marine mammals.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5917. The main objective of the program is to characterize the Western Arctic Boundary Current, which flows at the edge of the continental shelf, in order to understand its role in dictating shelf-basin exchange of water and materials and how it impacts the ecosystem of the region, including the occurrence of marine mammals. This project is a collaboration between US and Canadian scientists. The research team is using a combination of year-round subsurface moorings in the boundary current and seasonal (summertime/autumn) shipboard measurements. The moorings will be deployed in US waters, and five of the shipboard transects will be occupied in Canadian waters. On the ship the instrument package will be lowered at each station. The package carries a suite of electronic sensors to measure water properties (temperature, salinity, oxygen, turbidity, fluorescence, particulate organic carbon) and 10 liter bottles that are closed at specified depths to take water samples (salinity, nutrients, oxygen, particulate organic carbon, and harmful algal bloom species). Continuous measurements of the surface water will also be collected via the ship’s seawater intake system (temperature, salinity, carbon dioxide, oxygen, argon, and harmful algal bloom species), and collect velocity measurements of the water via the ship’s hull-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. At selected sites we will use a Smith-McIntyre grab to collect surface sediment samples in order to characterize harmful algal bloom cyst abundance and potential toxins in invertebrates. A seabird observer and marine mammal observer will be onboard. Data reports will be available and scientific papers will be published based on the data. The research team will plan on outreach visits to local communities explaining the results. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: July 10 - July 31, 2024