	Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre
	Canada's premier coastal and marine facility for teaching and research

Scientific Diving 2009

3 weeks, 25 May - 12 June

After three weeks of intennsive underwater data collection, the BMSC Scientific Diving Course is wrapping up this Friday, June 12. The students are in the process of writing up their reports on the little-studied red-turban snail Astraea gibberosa, while the instructors are busy collating data from a species diversity survey the class conducted on the Baeria Rocks Provincial Reserve.

Siobhan, Tom and Isobelle, photo by Melia
Siobhan Gray, Tom Bird and Dr. Isabelle Cote, Instructors

Tom and Isabelle, the instructors of the scientific diving course are eager to see the results of the student's papers. For one, the students have worked hard to design their projects to fit within the limited number and duration of dives available to them. Tom likes to compare doing science underwater to writing a Haiku; the students had a very limited amount of space and time to work within, so the design and execution of their experiments had to be spot on. Both Instructors are proud of how well their students have adapted to the demands of working underwater. "I'd hire any of them to do diving work in a second", says Isabelle, who frequently uses diving in her tropical conservation research. In addition, the red turban snail, while extremely abundant in the shallow subtidal around barkley sound, has exactly been studied in exactly 0 peer-reviewed papers. It is an amazing opportunity for the students to add to the basic knowledge of this species which is likely an important player in the community ecology of the BC's shallow subtidal waters.

Click here for the
2009 PHOTO GALLERY

In the final few days of their course, the students had the opportunity to perform species diversity monitoring dives on the Baeria Rocks Provincial Marine Reserve, a site that is off-limits to other divers. Administered by BC parks, the reserve was originaly established to protect a unique species of plant that is only found on wind and wave-swept rocky islets. As the provincial jurisdiction extends to 10 fathoms below the surface all around the reserve, the area may have seen some measure of protection against fishing. BMSC's Anne Stewart is the steward of the reserve, and was able to supply boat time to get the group of 14 well-trained divers out to survey the site. Perfect weather and 30 ft visibility combined with the unique and beautiful life found at this site combined to make this a perfect final dive for the class. Among the animals that were spotted were large lingcod, red irish lords and numerous nudibranchs. Siobhan Gray, the diving and Safety Officer for BMSC was fortunate enough to see diving birds while underwater, a highlight of her year so far.

As the students race against the 6:00 deadline for their paper submissions, all thoughts of diving must seem far away. But when the dust has settled, they will come away from the experience with the confidence that they belong to a unique group of scientists who know how to work underwater both efficiently and safely.

Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre
100 Pachena Rd, Bamfield, BC
Canada, V0R 1B0
Phone: (250) 728-3301
Fax: (250) 728-3452

| | | |