Home » Canada Foundation for Innovation invests $38.5 million in Dal-led Ocean Tracking Network – Dal News

Canada Foundation for Innovation invests $38.5 million in Dal-led Ocean Tracking Network – Dal News

by Tess Hutchinson

The Ocean Monitoring Networkheadquartered at Dalhousie University, received a $38.5 million grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) Major Science Initiatives Fund.

The grant brings the total amount awarded to the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) for its 2017-2029 funding cycle to $65.6 million – resources that will help support and grow the world-renowned platform for aquatic research, data management and partnership.

Collaborators around the world use OTN’s global infrastructure and analytical tools to document the movements of more than 300 key aquatic species of commercial and cultural interest in the context of changing ocean and freshwater environments . Since 2008, OTN has deployed innovative ocean monitoring equipment and autonomous marine vehicles (gliders) at key aquatic sites around the world and has since expanded to include remotely operated vehicles and side-scan sonar technology.

OTN is the only Major Science Initiative (MSI) in Atlantic Canada. The MSI Fund supports the unique operations and maintenance needs of some of Canada’s premier research facilities – both physical spaces and virtual networks – to serve researchers as they continue to drive science. and innovation and to develop solutions to some of today’s most complex and important societal problems. The funding announced today includes an investment of more than $628 million to support 19 national research facilities at 14 institutions across the country.


Sara Iverson (left), Scientific Director of OTN, with Fred Whoriskey, Executive Director of OTN.

“This significant investment from the CFI will allow OTN to maintain and advance its headquarters operations and activities, while remaining agile and adaptable to emerging scientific priorities in Canada and abroad,” said Sara Iverson, scientific director of OTN.

Global cooperation

The RTO encourages global collaboration and transforms research on aquatic species into knowledge that benefits both Canada and the world. This includes monitoring the global movements and behavior of sharks to better inform and protect swimmers, support community efforts to track and maintain commercial species, and assist in the design of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and wildlife management practices. transboundary fisheries and many other high value aquatic species projects.

Since 2017, OTN’s reach and impact have grown exponentially. The network has more than doubled the number of registered users and network investigators. Detection data from network collaborators quadrupled from 250 million to more than a billion records, while sea gliders traveled more than 138,936 kilometers, more than three times the circumference of the Earth.

“Over the next six years, the funding will allow OTN to expand the core operations and activities that underpin the network’s mandate, including the continued delivery of our world-class sailplane program, l expansion of underwater robotics activities and support for the integration of satellites. derived the animal movement data into the OTN data center,” says Dr Iverson. “OTN will also continue to support Canada in meeting its commitments to the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). »

Protecting marine species around the world and here at home

OTN also plans to build technical support and capacity for its sailplane program – the first and largest of its kind. In addition to general ocean monitoring and maintenance of equipment at sea, the program uses gliders equipped with hydrophones to detect the cries of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales (and others) and transmit near real-time animal locations to regulators and vessels. In the region. This work helps to significantly reduce the risk of collision with right whales and supports the protection of critical habitats, such as Roseway Basin off southeastern Nova Scotia.

“The amount of things that remain to be discovered about the ocean and the species that inhabit it is vast,” says Alice Aiken, Vice President of Research and Innovation at Dalhousie. “As the impacts of climate change ripple through the waters around us, it is becoming increasingly urgent to close this knowledge gap. With support from the CFI, OTN’s cutting-edge research, technological innovation and global partnerships are helping to build the knowledge we need to revolutionize our understanding and management of aquatic species around the world.

With this funding, OTN will be able to:

  • Develop and maintain OTN’s headquarters, infrastructure and operations
  • Continue to meet the growing demands of its Canadian and international user communities
  • Strengthen communication of data and results in support of Canadian and international science and the sustainable management of shared aquatic resources
  • Facilitating cutting-edge research with technologies made in Canada
  • Support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

A complete list of newly funded projects is available on the Canada Foundation for Innovation website.

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