In August of 2015 the Memorial University Marine Habitat Mapping Group Scientific Dive Team collected Mya spp. clams around Qikiqtarjuaq, NU in order to obtain information on their size, age, and reproductive capacity. Adult clams can be picked from the seabed by hand, but juveniles (called “spat”) can be hard to see and even harder to grab! In order to sample these juveniles, we installed spat traps in five locations in the area in sets of three, to be retrieved at different times in the following year. It turns out that spat like to settle on artificial grass, so we staked 50x50 cm artificial grass mats to seabed in the hopes that the spat will collect on top, and so that they could be easily collected.

After 7-8 months Eric and his assistant conducted SCUBA dives under the ice in frigid waters to retrieve the first set of traps, which were frozen for storage. It was extremely hard work, but Eric’s team was able to dive at each sample location and retrieve the grass mats from the seabed. We plan to bring these frozen traps back to the lab to see if any spat are present, and if they so, count and identify them. We plan to do another collection later in the year and expect to see differences in what settles on the traps between seasons, since clams usually spawn in the summer. There is little knowledge of the life cycle and population of clams in this area; through this work we hope to gain some understanding on what areas spat like to settle in, and how many settle at a given time. This is part of a larger project to assess the clam population around Qikiqtarjuaq, and map out where the best clam habitat exists in the area. This work is in support of the ongoing clam fishery assessment around Qikiqtarjuaq being conducted by the Government of Nunavut Fisheries and Sealing Division in partnership with the Memorial University of Newfoundland Habitat Mapping Group.

Ben Misiuk, PhD Student

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Récupérer des pièges à bébés clams semés avec précision par 7 à 17 mètres de fond nous a permis, Eric et moi, de partager 5 fois 2 jours entre le dessus et le dessous de la banquise.

5 fois 2 jours variés. Et pour cause, les manips se sont étalées entre début mars où le froid attaque et fin avril où un printemps précoce s'installa.

Le premier trou de plongée nous pris la demi journée : 12 perforations à la tarière dans une banquise épaisse délimitant le trou, puis le bloc du milieu à casser en morceaux raisonnables; en tout près d'une tonne de glace déplacée à la pelle, au tuk ou à l’écumoire !

Un mois plus tard c'est dans la slush que nous installons le trou de plongée. Situé à proximité d'un fort courant, la glace rongée par dessous est fine et la neige qui pèse sur la banquise est inondée d'eau de mer. Nous installons donc la petite tente sur de la neige tassée au mieux, mais autour du trou, une vingtaine de cm d'eau inondent la glace vive. On croit marcher sur l'eau, la sensation de passer au travers n'est pas loin...

Le rituel est le même chaque deuxième jour. Qu'il neige qu'il vente la tente est montée, le réchaud allumé pour réchauffer matériel et plongeur. La ligne de vie, le filet, les outils sont préparés, ainsi que la Go-Pro sur son trépied que Eric installera au fond de la mer. Puis vient le harnachement du plongeur, sa sortie précautionneuse par la petite porte avant sa mise à l'eau. La ligne de vie nous relie, je sens chacun de ses mouvements au bout du fil tendu, prête à le ramener à la moindre alarme.

La plongée, c'est un travail d'équipe où chaque geste compte pour que la confiance soit totale et la sécurité optimale : un seul petit trou entre deux mondes dont un sans air !

After two years of very successful ice thickness surveys north of Qikiqtarjuaq, I was glad that we found an opportunity this year to finally visit the regions south of Qikiqtarjuaq, near Padloping Island, thus gathering information in all directions from Qikiqtarjuaq. Together with Jay and Eric we enjoyed four most remarkable days with great company, beautiful scenery and weather, and the most amazing polar bear spottings. Living off the land with fulmars and cod were some other highlights of this unforgettable trip, as was the excellent data quality and the documentation of thin ice regions and slush along our 440 km long journey. Thank you Jay for your insightful guidance, and France and Eric for your hospitality!

Every year since 2011, I look forward to welcome our colleague and friend Christian Haas, and to go together for long sea ice survey. This is the highlight of the year in our collaboration to study sea ice. This last four-day trip was up to our expectations: great data on the variability of the thickness of the ice, a stunning stop to the automatic scientific station on the ice island (a huge iceberg), sumptuous landscapes, ten polar bears encountered along our 450 kilometres survey, easy cod fishing, tasting Fulmar, a lot of snow but not too much slush... a fantastic journey shared again with our Inuit friend Jaypootie.

Marzena and Mojtaba are PhD students at York University in Toronto. They came here in Qikiqtarjuaq to learn about sea ice and snow measurements. I was pleased when their supervisor Christian Haas asked me if I could welcome them for one week of field work. We had various weather conditions, I took them to thick ice and low snow areas, as well as thin ice and thick snow areas, even to some very slushy places. Measurements went well and I had fun showing them all kind of tricks to get work going smoothly out on the ice.

Today came a charter flight full of GreenEdge equipment. The second field work season is about to start, to study the phytoplankton spring bloom. You can also follow this big scientific project on GreenEdge Expeditions blog.