Well-Being Baseline Study Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach –March 2014

This study was modelled after Peter Siebenmorgan and Dr. Ben Bradshaw’s successful work in Northern Ontario. I would like to express my appreciation to the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, the band office, the development corporation, the McGill Subarctic Research Station, and Atmacinta. Many thanks must go to the steering committee, their willingness to give their time so generously has been greatly appreciated.The Naskapi Nation is a small, isolated Aboriginal community located in northern Quebec near the Labrador Border. Reachable only by air and rail, the community has been affected by major mineral development. Due to the rich mineral area surrounding the community extractive companies have begun to implement plans for further development. This has raised local concerns regarding the range of environmental and socio-economic impacts that may be caused by continued development. The degree of current and proposed mineral activity near Kawawachikamach, and its related impacts upon the Naskapi, has created a necessity to produce a tool to track community well-being over time. This need is best accomplished by using community members at each step and indicators that are meaningful as well as relevant. More than simply describing community change from mining, this evidence establishes a footing for the community; it allows the chief and council to re-examine partnerships, negotiations, and make changes where appropriate. Time series evidence first begins with a baseline of well-being.Study was made possible through funding by the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, the MRC Caniapiscau’s Pacte Rural Program, Mitacs accelerate internship grant, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

Seasonal presence of cetaceans and ambient noise levels in polar waters of the North Atlantic

In 2009 two calibrated acoustic recorders were deployed in polar waters of the North Atlantic to study the seasonal occurrence of blue, fin, and sperm whales and to assess current ambient noise levels. Sounds from these cetaceans were recorded at both locations in most months of the year. During the summer months, seismic airguns associated with oil and gas exploration were audible for weeks at a time and dominated low frequency noise levels. Noise levels might further increase in the future as the receding sea ice enables extended human use of the area.Keywords: underwater sound, acoustic measurement, acoustic nois

Confirmation of right whales near a historic whaling ground east of southern Greenland

North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) were found in an important nineteenth century whaling area east of southern Greenland, from which they were once thought to have been extirpated. In 2007–2008, a 1-year passive acoustic survey was conducted at five sites in and near the ‘Cape Farewell Ground’, the former whaling ground. Over 2000 right whale calls were recorded at these sites, primarily during July–November. Most calls were northwest of the historic ground, suggesting a broader range in this region than previously known. Geographical and temporal separation of calls confirms use of this area by multiple animals.This is the author's final peer-reviewed manuscript as accepted by the publisher, Royal Society. The publisher's pdf can be found at Biology Letters: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org

Sounds from airguns and fin whales recorded in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, 1999-2009

Between 1999 and 2009, autonomous hydrophones were deployed to monitor seismic activity from 16° N to 50° N along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These data were examined for airgun sounds produced during offshore surveys for oil and gas deposits, as well as the 20 Hz pulse sounds from fin whales, which may be masked by airgun noise. An automatic detection algorithm was used to identify airgun sound patterns, and fin whale calling levels were summarized via long-term spectral analysis. Both airgun and fin whale sounds were recorded at all sites. Fin whale calling rates were higher at sites north of 32° N, increased during the late summer and fall months at all sites, and peaked during the winter months, a time when airgun noise was often prevalent. Seismic survey vessels were acoustically located off the coasts of three major areas: Newfoundland, northeast Brazil, and Senegal and Mauritania in West Africa. In some cases, airgun sounds were recorded almost 4000 km from the survey vessel in areas that are likely occupied by fin whales, and at some locations airgun sounds were recorded more than 80% days/month for more than 12 consecutive months

Calls reveal population structure of blue whales across the southeast Indian Ocean and the southwest Pacific Ocean

For effective species management, understanding population structure and distribution is critical. However, quantifying population structure is not always straightforward. Within the Southern Hemisphere, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) complex is extremely diverse but difficult to study. Using automated detector methods, we identified “acoustic populations” of whales producing region-specific call types. We examined blue whale call types in passive acoustic data at sites spanning over 7,370 km across the southeast Indian Ocean and southwest Pacific Ocean (SWPO) from 2009 to 2012. In the absence of genetic resolution, these acoustic populations offer unique information about the blue whale population complex. We found that the Australian continent acts as a geographic boundary, separating Australia and New Zealand blue whale acoustic populations at the junction of the Indian and Pacific Ocean basins. We located blue whales in previously undocumented locations, including the far SWPO, in the Tasman Sea off the east coast of Australia, and along the Lau Basin near Tonga. Our understanding of population dynamics across this broad scale has significant implications to recovery and conservation management for this endangered species, at a regional and global scale.Keywords: vocalization, pygmy blue whale, bioacoustics, Lau Basin, New Zealand, passive acoustic monitoring, marine mammal, Australi

Characterising soundscapes across diverse ecosystems using a universal acoustic feature set

Natural habitats are being impacted by human pressures at an alarming rate. Monitoring these ecosystem-level changes often requires labor-intensive surveys that are unable to detect rapid or unanticipated environmental changes. Here we have developed a generalizable, data-driven solution to this challenge using eco-acoustic data. We exploited a convolutional neural network to embed soundscapes from a variety of ecosystems into a common acoustic space. In both supervised and unsupervised modes, this allowed us to accurately quantify variation in habitat quality across space and in biodiversity through time. On the scale of seconds, we learned a typical soundscape model that allowed automatic identification of anomalous sounds in playback experiments, providing a potential route for real-time automated detection of irregular environmental behavior including illegal logging and hunting. Our highly generalizable approach, and the common set of features, will enable scientists to unlock previously hidden insights from acoustic data and offers promise as a backbone technology for global collaborative autonomous ecosystem monitoring efforts

Ecological Role of Submarine Canyons and Need for Canyon Conservation: A Review

Submarine canyons are major geomorphic features of continental margins around the world. Several recent multidisciplinary projects focused on the study of canyons have considerably increased our understanding of their ecological role, the goods, and services they provide to human populations, and the impacts that human activities have on their overall ecological condition. Pressures from human activities include fishing, dumping of land-based mine tailings, and oil and gas extraction. Moreover, hydrodynamic processes of canyons enhance the down-canyon transport of litter. The effects of climate change may modify the intensity of currents. This potential hydrographic change is predicted to impact the structure and functioning of canyon communities as well as affect nutrient supply to the deep-ocean ecosystem. This review not only identifies the ecological status of canyons, and current and future issues for canyon conservation, but also highlights the need for a better understanding of anthropogenic impacts on canyon ecosystems and proposes other research required to inform management measures to protect canyon ecosystemsVersión del edito

Atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica

Over recent decades outlet glaciers of the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE), West Antarctica, have accelerated, thinned and retreated, and are now contributing approximately 10% to global sea level rise. All the ASE glaciers flow into ice shelves, and it is the thinning of these since the 1970s, and their ungrounding from “pinning points” that is widely held to be responsible for triggering the glaciers’ decline. These changes have been linked to the inflow of warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) onto the ASE's continental shelf. CDW delivery is highly variable, and is closely related to the regional atmospheric circulation. The ASE is south of the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL), which has a large variability and which has deepened in recent decades. The ASL is influenced by the phase of the Southern Annular Mode, along with tropical climate variability. It is not currently possible to simulate such complex atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions in models, hampering prediction of future change. The current retreat could mark the beginning of an unstable phase of the ASE glaciers that, if continued, will result in collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but numerical ice-sheet models currently lack the predictive power to answer this question. It is equally possible that the recent retreat will be short-lived and that the ASE will find a new stable state. Progress is hindered by incomplete knowledge of bed topography in the vicinity of the grounding line. Furthermore, a number of key processes are still missing or poorly represented in models of ice-flow

Establishing in vivo micro-ct for use in mouse models of osteoprosis

Bibliography: p. 85-95Some pages are in colour

Management Strategy Evaluation for the Atlantic Surfclam (\u3ci\u3eSpisula solidissima\u3c/i\u3e) Using a Spatially Explicit, Vessel-based Fisheries Model

The commercially valuable Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) is harvested along the northeastern continental shelf of the United States. Its range has contracted and shifted north, driven by warmer bottom water temperatures. Declining landings per unit of effort (LPUE) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) is one result. Declining stock abundance and LPUE suggest that overfishing may be occurring off New Jersey. A management strategy evaluation (MSE) for the Atlantic surfclam is implemented to evaluate rotating closures to enhance Atlantic surfclam productivity and increase fishery viability in the MAB. Active agents of the MSE model are individual fishing vessels with performance and quota constraints influenced by captains’ behavior over a spatially varying population. Management alternatives include 2 rules regarding closure locations and 3 rules regarding closure durations.Simulations showed that stock biomass increased, up to 17%, under most alternative strategies in relation to estimated stock biomass under present-day management, and LPUE increased under most alternative strategies, by up to 21%. When incidental mortality caused by the fishery increased, the benefits seen under the alternative management were enhanced. These outcomes suggest that area management involving rotating closures could be valuable in insulating the stock and the commercial fishery from further declines as a northerly shift in range proceeds