Searching for Hot Spots under the Ice

Climate change is affecting many arctic species, not only polar bears. Decreasing sea ice cover has an impact on the phytoplankton, zooplankton and finally on the species living on the ocean floor, the benthos. Join our group of scientists on board the research icebreaker Amundsen as we sail through the Canadian Arctic, studying critical hot spots of biodiversity on the seafloor. This research is critical to establishing a baseline understanding of these biological communities, against which we can compare future changes and adaptations. Watch us on deck as we sample seafloor organisms down to 600 meters depth. Look over our shoulder during video surveys of the seabed with a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV). Discover live samples in the shipboard lab. The Arctic is one of the last frontiers on Earth for marine research and an environment that will be most affected by climate change.

Producer: S. Kim Juniper, University of Victoria
Photography & Editing: Maeva Gauthier
CHONe people involved: Heike Link, Mélanie Lévesque, and Philippe Archambault from Université du Québec à Rimouski

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Arctic
• North pole
• climate change
• icebreaker
• Amundsen
• ArcticNet
• CHONe
• marine biodiversity
• arctic ecosystems
• marine biology
• ecology
• northwest passage
• sea ice