SEAM Projects
BEcoME - Benthic Ecosystem Mapping & Engagment
The project team will be led by two Principal Investigators - Dr. Craig Brown (Dalhousie University) and Dr. Katleen Robert (Memorial University). Co-Prinicipal Investigators will lead each of the work packages, comprising a team of research students, postdoctoral researchers, & collaborators.
The project is organized as seven, interconnected & overlapping Work
Packages, structured under 5 research themes:
Theme 1: Societal Engagement
Theme 2: Broad-scale Mapping
Theme 3: Fine-scale Mapping
Theme 4: Tools – Hardware Technologies
Theme 5: Tools – Data Analytics
Industry, government & academic partners will
form an integral part of the research program.
Evaluating habitat & habitat use by American eel/ Katew
Apoqnamatulti’k is a three-year collaborative study that focused on three culturally, ecologically, and commercially important species in two large ecosystems: American Lobster and American eel in the Bras d’Or Lake and Atlantic tomcod and American eel in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Apoqnamatulti’k was built using a Two-eyed seeing framework and a mutual goal to share what we learn together with communities and decision makers to contribute knowledge to help inform management and stewardship of study species in a way that values different ways of knowing.
Big BRUVver Watches the Bedford Basin
Benthic ecosystems contribute to global ocean health through biogeochemical functions & provisions of ecosystem services. Benthic ecosystems are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures such as climate change & therefore, effective marine monitoring strategies are needed to evaluate ecosystem health.
Traditional marine monitoring methods can be extractive, destructive, costly, and labour intensive, limiting scope & repeatability. Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) represent an innovative monitoring technology, with many advantages compared to traditional survey methods. The majority of BRUVS studies have been conducted in the photic zone within the southern hemisphere, with 61% of studies attributed to Australia alone. Significant knowledge gaps surround the use of BRUVS with integrated lights in poor visibility waters of the North Atlantic.
Hydrography to Biology: Developing Integrated Approaches for Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Bay of Fundy
The goal of this research project is to develop integrated approaches for seafloor habitat mapping in the Bay of Fundy to assess spatial patterns in benthic habitats and associated fauna, and the environmental drivers of these patterns.
The project addressed the following five research objectives.
1. Multisource Multibeam Data
2. Baroclinic and Barotropic Ocean Circulation Models
3. Ground Truthing
4. Benthic Habitat Maps
5. Spatial Distribution of Benthic Debris
Mapping The Ocean Floor
Ocean floor mapping was a key area of research for the SEAM Lab. The goal is to make detailed thematic maps of the seabed using data obtained from a combination of techniques and innovative data analytics. The SEAM Lab is focused on investigating the latest innovations in ocean survey instruments, including subsea camera systems, multibeam echo sounders and autonomous platforms.
Multispectral Acoustic Backscatter Research
One of the main areas of research for the SEAM Lab is the application of seafloor acoustics for studying, mapping and monitoring benthic ecosystems. In 2016, the team,, in collaboration with QPS and R2Sonic, undertook a study to test the acquisition and processing of multispectral backscatter data from a multibeam echosounder.
Camera Research - Ultra High Resolution Drop Camera System
The SEAM Labs drop camera system was designed to answer specific questions. It uses known principles to solve practical problems in industry, communities, or elsewhere. Largely built in the lab. Student interns played a large role in bringing this project to life. The research team utilized the training of NSCC electronics engineering, mechanical engineering and ocean technology students.
Abandoned, Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear in Southwest Nova Scotia
Marine debris is a ubiquitous global problem, where approximately 80% originates from land-based sources. Of the remaining 20%, marine-based sources are believed to be the root of the problem. Abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), also known as “ghost gear,” represents fishing-related debris that is disposed of accidentally or deliberately into the marine environment and contributes to over 6.4 million tonnes of marine debris annually.
Marine-Protected Area Mapping
Exploring the role seafloor habitat mapping plays in the monitoring of conservations sites, the AORG collaborated with researchers at Memorial and Dalhousie universities on projects under the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network. The team produced underwater landscape maps of the Laurentian Channel area of interest and the St. Anns Bank marine protected area using high-resolution sonar technology combined with subsea video and photographs of the seafloor. This work enabled the group to determine seafloor patterns and link them to biodiversity within these conservation areas.
Camera Research - BRUVS
The Applied Oceans Research Group investigated the latest innovations in subsea camera systems. The team enhanced knowledge on our ocean floor through data collected using high-resolution imagery. Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) can be used to track species abundance and diversity.