World Oceans Day: Thinking global

You can’t escape the ocean when you live in Atlantic Canada – it’s right there in the name.

Likewise, it’s hard to miss the extensive impact that oceans research, development and industry plays in Nova Scotia. Our province is home to the highest concentration of oceans scientists in the world and the greatest concentration of oceans-related businesses in North America.

Dalhousie contributes to the province’s $5-billion oceans industry with more than 100 faculty conducting oceans research. The university hosts the $25-million Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR), the $169-million Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), and plays a leading role in the Halifax Marine Research Institute and many other major initiatives. And on the west end of Studley campus, construction is well underway on the 68,000 sq. ft. Oceans Excellence Centre, set to open next year.

Little wonder that the arrival World Oceans Day this Friday, June 8 is cause for celebration. As part of the festivities, the partners involved in a variety of oceans activities across Halifax are encouraging people to wear blue tomorrow to mark the occasion.

Noting that, in many ways, Dalhousie is an “oceans university,” Vice-President Research Martha Crago points to OTN as a particularly celebratory Dal connection to the ocean.

“As the host institution of the Ocean Tracking Network, we’re proud of the science and technological contributions the program is making and of its global impact,” she says.

Sharing knowledge

This week, Dalhousie hosts the Second Annual OTN Symposium. Researchers from OTN’s 14 ocean regions, covering all five of the world’s oceans — Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern and Arctic — are gathering to share their findings and discuss how best to collaborate moving forward.

“Researchers from around Canada have done an excellent job establishing their own research programs within the OTN", says Glenn Crossin, assistant professor in the Department of Biology. “The symposium will help us to learn from each other and determine how best to integrate as we continue on our research.”

OTN uses acoustic telemetry technology to track marine migration and monitor climate change. Dr. Crossin himself is most interested in the reproductive and migratory patterns of Atlantic salmon within the Bras d’Or Lakes, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. A salt-water estuary watershed with only three passages to the Atlantic Ocean, the brackish, “inland sea” is analgous in characteristics to the Baltic Sea and hosts unique populations of salmon.

“They’re amazing beasts with fantastic migration patterns and unique genetic differences, morphology, physiology and approach to reproduction,” says Dr. Crossin, who hopes his research will help with land management and fisheries.

The OTN Symposium isn’t the only oceans conference happening this week: the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies is supporting the annual Maritime Security Conference at the Westin Hotel.

Oceans events – “Wear blue, tell two”

Dalhousie is also linked with a number of other events surrounding World Oceans Day, extending through the month of June. As part of the festivities, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is hosting a public “human wave” event on the waterfront, asking supporters to “wear blue” and share two facts about why it’s important to cherish the world’s oceans.

Closer to campus, the Dal-affiliated International Ocean Institute (IOI) hosts its yearly Elisabeth Mann Borgese (EMB) lecture on June 8. This year’s lecture will see Megan Leslie, MP for Halifax, and David MacDonald from the Commons Group join the IOI and Ecology Action Centre for a discussion titled "Blue Planet Under Threat" on the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

The IOI is also hosting its Third Annual Oceans Film Festival June 6, 13 and 20. Films ranging from the 10,000-mile journey of a loggerhead turtle to aquaculture issues in Nova Scotia will be followed by brief presentations and discussions. All screenings are free and open to the public.

On Saturday, June 9, the Celtic Mass For the Sea concert will entertain audiences at Queen’s Landing. CBC’s Olga Milosevich will host Dalhousie music prof and ECMA-winning composer Scott Macmillan on the guitar, joined by the Halifax Camereta Singers, while Nova Scotia Artist Holly Carr creates 20x10 ft seascape paintings on silk and photographer Damian Lidgard shares his photographs of Sable Island.

Visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic website for more information on oceans events.