Like an otter bobbing in the water
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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Do kelp forests offer sensitive sea creatures refuge from ocean noise?
That’s the question marine ecologist Kieran Cox and his fellow researchers are on a quest to answer off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Time is of the essence: warming waters spurred by climate change are contributing to the destruction of kelp forests — which means the race is on to find out just how valuable these ecosystems are, before they’re gone.
When our B.C. biodiversity reporter Ainslie Cruickshank heard about the work of Cox and his colleagues, she jumped at the chance to get a first-hand look. And so, in early September, she caught a 6:30 a.m. ferry to the island and made her way to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre to meet the team.
“I’d only been snorkeling a handful of times before this assignment, and never in a kelp forest, so I couldn’t wait to get in the water,” Ainslie recalled. “Wriggling into the wetsuit, hood and gloves was probably the most exhausting part of the whole day, but I finally managed it — with some help.”
Next, it was time to enter the magical world of the kelp forest, where Cox and co. have been running noise experiments with waterproof speakers — and using waterproof paper to jot down each fish they spot: tubesnouts and rockfish and striped surfperch and kelp greenling.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so buoyant and I vaguely remember one of the researchers telling me I looked a bit like an otter bobbing in the water on my back as I got my bearings,” Ainslie said.
As for the task of visually capturing all the amazing sea life and the researchers trying to make sense of this oasis?
“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the kelp story shoot for The Narwhal is … luck,” photojournalist Shane Gross told me.
“So many things can go wrong when trying to shoot underwater,” Shane, who specializes in marine conservation photography, said.
“We were incredibly lucky to have calm weather and decent visibility during our two-day shoot — but it was far from perfect. This meant I had to get very close to subjects and use an extreme wide-angle lens called a fisheye, which makes the water appear a lot more clear than it actually was.”
Ainslie also relished in the underwater sights of Barkley Sound — when she wasn’t working to get herself untangled from the kelp, that is.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” she said. “All the sediment in the water was glimmering in the sunlight and the kelp were just gently swaying in the water.”
Cox and his fellow researchers plan to be back out on the water this year, gathering more data on their hypothesis that, if proven true, could prompt action to protect and restore kelp forests. With Canada working on a strategy to reduce the harms of ocean noise, the timing couldn’t be better.
Take care and bob in the water like no otter,
Arik Ligeti
Director of audience
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