August 15, 2017

The Vancouver Aquarium is currently promoting its citizen science-driven project to conduct an annual rockfish abundance survey from August through October. Click HERE to see the poster! Further details about the survey, as well as their online submission form, can be found on their webpage (http://www.vanaqua.org/act/research/fish/rockfish-survey).

December 12, 2016

Glen Dennison and Lena Clayton have published a paper in The Canadian Field-Naturalist Journal on their work surveying the seafloors of Howe Sound through drop camera. This paper was the culmination of years of field work and could not have been possible without the assistance of the Vancouver Aquarium scientists and MLSS members and volunteers. Special thanks and acknowledgement for their assistance to Dr. Jeff Marliave (Vancouver Aquarium), Beau Doherty (SFU), Alejandro Frid (Vancouver Aquarium) and Anya Dunham (DFO).

To read the full issue of The Canadian Field- Naturalist Journal this article was published in click HERE. For a PDF version of the paper, “Inexpensive Video Drop-camera for Surveying Sensitive Benthic Habitats: Applications from Glass Sponge (Hexactinellida) Reefs in Howe Sound, British Columbia”, click HERE.

On March 23, 2013 Dr. Jeff Marliave, from the Vancouver aquarium, joined MLSS president Roy Mulder for a morning of drop camera work on sponge bioherms in Howe Sound. The pair observed glass sponges to depths of 350 feet and documented many different species of rockfish and deep sea marine life.

Also found at depth was a prawn trap in the midst of the glass sponge — definitely not good for these delicate sponges which serve as important habitat for many marine species. The morning was so productive that Dr. Marliave has vowed to return for another Howe Sound morning of discovery with MLSS. Check out the Vancouver Aquarium’s blog for more info and video on this work