Many think of Nunatsiavut, the homeland of Labrador Inuit, as a place of ice, mountains and polar bears.
A recent discovery has shown why what is going on under the waves is every bit as exciting for researchers at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Labrador Inuit.
With the help of Indigenous partners and other researchers, DFO scientists have discovered a hotspot of corals and sponges near Makkovik. Together, they have found a unique area of corals, never-before seen in the Labrador Sea.
What Makes Them Significant?
Corals are sensitive to bottom contact activities and are very important habitat for other species. “We make the analogy to trees. Trees are habitats for birds, mammals and insects and corals play this same role in the ocean. They live on the seafloor and often have a lot of little animals living on, inside and around them,” explained DFO research scientist Dr. David Cote.
“They also provide an important ecological record because they can live to be thousands of years old and store information about the environment in their tree-like growth rings,” adds Dr. Cote. “In their own way, they’re storytellers — they help us look backwards at marine conditions of the past.”
Dr. Cote and Dr. Bárbara Neves, both research scientists at DFO, travelled for 28 days on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS), Amundsen, in the fall of 2021. As part of the expedition, they were hoping to identify sensitive coral and sponge habitats in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. What they found was beyond what they had expected.
“It was a big find,” explains Dr. Neves. “Our first glimpses of the corals were more fascinating than we had expected — it was quite impressive.”
In Newfoundland and Labrador, Primnoa resedaeformis or popcorn coral is most often found growing upright attached to boulders, but for the first time in the region, it was found hanging from vertical cliffs. In addition, dense corals are usually found around deep ocean places like the continental shelf, greater than 100 kilometres from shore, but these cliffs were within a modest boat ride from the Nunatsiavut community of Makkovik.
N.L. has over 70 species of cold-water corals. While some soft corals can be found in shallow waters, 10 metres down, most N.L. corals are only found in deep water, below 200 metres.
Years in the Planning
The search for this coral and sponge hotspot started two years ago in 2020 when Joey Angnatok, a Nunatsiavut fish harvester, thought he’d discovered a seamount while crab fishing. He provided DFO scientists with the coordinates and depth so they could take a closer look.
Teams cross-referenced the coordinates with older data and after pinpointing potential locations on a map, went looking. It was a treasure hunt that entailed more than one attempt. Scientists took lessons learned and used habitat mapping information to narrow their search. On their second attempt, Dr. Neves targeted submarine cliffs that could only be reached with the Amundsen’s new remotely operated vehicle (ROV). With this knowledge and technology, they hit a coral and sponge jackpot.
“Without the local knowledge or the technology, we never would have been able to find it,” Dr. Cote notes.
Many Tools for the Job
DFO scientists have been characterizing ecosystems in the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay, in partnership with the Nunatsiavut Government.
Focused on surveying the seafloor, the crew used a range of tools to explore the areas, including a new ROV, a drop camera, a baited camera, pelagic fish nets, plankton nets, fisheries sonar and acoustic habitat mapping among others. One of the most novel methods they used is coral staining, which was done as part of a Memorial University’s graduate student project.
Many corals lay down growth rings in their skeletons and although scientists know that cold-water corals can have slow growth rates, sometimes they don’t know exactly how much time each ring represents. A staining experiment will help answer that question. Using a chamber placed over the coral, a non-toxic yellow dye is released onto the coral to mark a time stamp in the coral’s skeleton. This stains a growth-ring and is later used to validate the frequency of ring formation and allow for better estimates of growth rates.
Scientists come from all over Canada and the world to work aboard the CCGS Amundsen.
Featured on the $50 bill, the Amundsen is Canada’s preeminent Arctic research platform and represents a source of pride among Canada’s Arctic research community. While on expeditions like this one, the vessel hosts a dynamic scientific community with a broad spectrum of research expertise and ample opportunities for collaboration, including researchers from the Nunatsiavut Government.
Dr. Neves describes it as a scientific conference at sea where you are constantly learning new things from other people.
“In the evenings, specialists host seminars, but we also get to know each other while eating together,” she says. “The expeditions breed opportunities for multidisciplinary research — researchers that wouldn’t normally think to collaborate often discover similar interest areas and new research projects are born. This collaboration has become a valuable side benefit of these missions.”
Conservation is Key
The research team surveyed sites in the Labrador Sea as deep as 600 metres and explored waters more than 1,000 metres deep in the Davis Strait.
Most of the surveys were done on the Canadian, or westernmost side of Baffin Bay.
Dr. Neves explained, the coral community changes as you get to Baffin Bay. Ecosystem conditions like water temperature and calcium carbonate levels can impact species diversity. Calcium carbonate levels are important for animals like corals, that produce calcite or aragonite skeletons, and researchers believe that these might influence the changes in coral communities in the region.
“In every ocean there are areas where animals cannot build calcium carbonate and we know that there are a few places in Baffin Bay that are more limited in calcium carbonate saturation. This might be limiting the diversity of corals we see on the Canadian side,” she notes.
Climate change also plays a role as it is increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the acidity of the water. “Even in the cold, deep water, species are at risk. If these changes continue at the current rate, the range of habitat for many species is going to decline.”
DFO is one of the many groups working to prevent this from happening. Surveys like this one are part of DFO’s marine conservation target program, a commitment aiming to conserve 30 per cent of coastal and marine areas by 2030 through effectively managed networks of protected areas and other area-based conservation measures.
In the Labrador Sea, researchers are working closely with the Nunatsiavut government to explore and conserve these land claim waters and to ensure they can sustain the ecosystem and the Inuit culture it supports for generations to come. Part of this is finding and protecting unique and sensitive habitats.
Learning More
Many areas visited during this expedition have never been surveyed, much less viewed through deep water cameras. Dr. Cote says he never tires of exploring new areas.
“We never know what we’re going to see when we drop a camera over the side of the boat or while exploring these areas. We are fortunate to work in breathtaking places where there’s lots of exciting discoveries happening, and the researchers have a shared enthusiasm and understanding of the importance of the work. It’s the perfect combination and makes you hungry to go again the next year.”
“We work long hours and sometimes through the night but even when you are exhausted you pop your head out the window and its impossible to sleep because you don’t want to miss the nice scenery going by. It was a real highlight this year to visit some of these spots like the Torngat Mountains National Park and Scott Inlet.”
“The landscape is very remarkable and I’m always impressed by the ice,” agreed Dr. Neves.
Both say it’s a privilege to work in these areas, learn about what’s happening off the Labrador coast and contribute to shared knowledge and conservation of these areas. They are excited to share this discovery which just goes to show once again, Labrador is a special place, both on land and under the sea.
