Victoria Research Group Is Getting $46.5M To Unravel The ‘Great Mysteries’ Of The Ocean

Ocean Networks Canada employs 160 people in high-tech jobs.

Researchers at an Ocean Networks Canada monitoring station
Researchers at an Ocean Networks Canada monitoring station. Source: Ocean Network Canada | Facebook

Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray today announced funding of $46.5 million for a research institution on the B.C. coast that will help unravel what she calls the “great mysteries” of the ocean.

The money, spent over five years, aims to strengthen coastal monitoring systems run by the University of Victoria’s Ocean Networks Canada.

The floor of the deep ocean is, on average, 4 kilometres deep, Murray told a press conference at the IMPAC5 conference underway in Vancouver. “Think about how little we know about that ecosystem,” she said.

Orange Sea Pen (Ptilosarcus gurneyi) photographed at 15 meters deep off Island in British Columbia.
Orange Sea Pen (Ptilosarcus gurneyi) photographed at 15 meters deep off Island in British Columbia. Photo Credit: Derek Holzapfel | Dreamstime.com

Oceans Network Canada will use the funds toward monitoring changes in the ocean from global warming, underwater noise, acidification, and wave and surface currents.

The research will help communities that rely on coastal waters, Oceans Canada Network president Kate Moran told reporters.

“Climate change is the issue of our time,” said Moran. To understand its impacts, she added, a combination of science research and Indigenous knowledge is needed.

Cowichan Bay Houseboats, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Cowichan Bay Houseboats, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Photo Credit: Jaahnlieb | Dreamstime.com

The network employs a staff of 160 people in high-tech jobs, said Moran, and serves as a “learning factory for many young ocean technologists.”

The new spending will help “protect our ecosystems, support safe navigation, and inform emergency response planning,” said a federal statement.

The statement said the funding will come from $3.5 billion allocated to the federal Oceans Protection Plan over the past seven years, “the largest investment Canada has ever made to protect its coasts and waterways.”

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