Bedford Basin Monitoring Program

The Bedford Basin forms the inner portion of the Halifax Harbour.  Freshwater is supplied from both the Sackville River and additional runoff from the watershed. The Basin is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through a channel which is 10 km long, 400 m wide and 20 m deep (Li and Dickie 2001).  Since 1992, the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) has carried out weekly monitoring at the Compass Buoy station (44° 41' 37" N, 63° 38' 25" W), located at the deepest point of the basin (71 m); water samples are collected at depths of  1, 5, 10 and 60 metres. BIO monitors physical, chemical, biological and optical parameters, including water temperature, nutrient concentration, phytoplankton abundance and light attenuation, among others. In cooperation with BIO and Doug Wallace (CERC.OCEAN), we are examining the microbial communities of the Bedford Basin utilizing techniques such as flow cytometry, microscopy, and genetic analyses.