NEPTUNE Canada: Deep sea ecosystems

Deep-sea ecosystems

Many kinds of fish and anenomes inhabit Barkley Canyon.

Seafloor ecosystems and those in the overlying water column are intimately connected. NEPTUNE Canada is helping researchers study:

seafloor biological communities
energy and nutrient pathways
ecosystem evolution
ecosystem responses to both short-term and episodic events

A number of sites are instrumented with acoustic, chemical and optical systems, including video and still cameras, to help scientists learn how seafloor organisms are affected by phenomena like:

large storms
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
long-term changes in ocean temperature and salinity
seasonal upwelling
canyon processes
hydrothermal circulations