PO Box 3232, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 3X8 ocean.org | 604 659 3569 Project description for Ocean Wise Scientific Diving Field Research on Board One Ocean Expeditions Cruise (125352) While there is good knowledge of what lives on land in the Canadian Arctic and about marine mammals and fish, very little is known about what lives on or near the bottom of the ocean in many places in the High Arctic. Ocean Wise research scuba divers would like to dive in various locations around Cornwallis, Devon, Somerset, southern Ellesmere and North Baffin Islands to take photographs and video of life at the bottom and record what they see in order to identify and catalogue what is there. Our divers have been offered the opportunity to travel aboard the One Ocean Expeditions ship, the Akademik Ioffe, from August 14 to August 23 and will conduct their dives at the ship’s regular planned stops. The information will help us better understand what lives in these coastal areas and to track over time how things change. They will also collect some (1-5 of any one species) samples of fish and invertebrates (no mammals or large fish) in order to get their DNA, which is used to help identify species. They will record water temperature and other conditions as well. Some invertebrates and fish may also be collected for use by the Vancouver Aquarium for displays and exhibits. The dives will be non-destructive. They will collect a small number of fish and invertebrates by hand and using hand-held nets. Examples include anemones, sea stars urchins, etc. There will be four divers. They will dive from the Zodiacs, not from shore, and will not be using water or other resources. Planned locations include Dundas Harbour, Croker Bay and Maxwell Bay on Devon Island, Beechey Island, Port Leopold on Somerset Island, Elwin Inlet and Cape Hay on Baffin Island, and Craig Harbour on Ellesmere Island. They may also dive in Resolute Bay and offshore of Grise Fiord. Weather conditions might affect where they can dive. The information will be used to create a report that lists all the species identified at each location. We hope to continue this dive program and return to these sites each year to monitor for change, including the potential for non-native invasive species. This information will be made available to anyone interested. A copy of the report will be provided to the Resolute Bay HTA and Grise Fiord HTO. We hope to return to Resolute and Grise Fiord again next year and would be pleased to discuss the information in the report with the HTA/HTO and other interested community members. For further information, please contact Eric Solomon at [email protected] or 604-659-3496. .