Gulf of St. Lawrence depths explored
CHETICAMP, N.S. — A scientific expedition in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is revealing never before seen images of odd and valuable marine life.
Federal researchers have joined with the non-profit group Oceana Canada to use a $6-million robotic submersible, known as ROPOS, to explore the seabed, and live-stream spectacular highdefinition video to the internet.
“The Gulf of St. Lawrence has never been explored with the type of technology we have,” Oceana’s science director, Robert Rangeley, said in an interview Monday from Cheticamp, N.S., where the two ship expedition was poised to begin another week of exploring the Gulf’s depths.
Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of the famous French filmmaker and marine conservationist Jacques Cousteau, is part of the expedition and an adviser to Oceana, an international ocean conservation group.
The high-tech submersible — ROPOS stands for Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences — has recorded video images of large numbers of juvenile redfish seeking shelter among fields of sea pens.
The expedition started last week off the coast of Quebec’s Anticosti Island, and then moved to the American Bank, a submarine cliff lying off the eastern tip of Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula. More exploration is expected this week off the west coast of Cape Breton.
Oceana, was part of a similar expedition in the Gulf of Maine in June.
The ROPOS submersible, which can dive to 5,000 metres, is being carried aboard the CCGS Martha L. Black, a Canadian Coast Guard light icebreaker. The submersible is owned by the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility, based in North Saanich.