BIO Brain Waves
Here you will find some fun ocean science facts that are sure to intrigue and surprise!
Learn all about Marine Protected Areas.
- There are currently five Marine Protected Areas in Atlantic Canada managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada manages two Marine Protected Areas in the Maritimes: the Gully and Musquash Estuary.
- The Gully is more than 65 km long and 15 km wide -twice as long as Halifax Harbour and 7 times its width!
- Marine critters are safe from harm to depths below 3 km in the Gully submarine canyon.
- The Gully MPA is an important habitat for whales - with more then 16 species of whales sighted in this large submarine canyon!
- The Gully submarine canyon was designated as critical habitat for Endangered bottlenose whales in Aug. 2010.
- Canada's 6th MPA is the Musquash Estuary; a large ecologically intact salt water marsh in the Bay of Fundy.
- Choosing a Marine Protected Area is no simple task - scientific data, and social, cultural, economic concerns all play a role.
- St. Anns Bank was announced as an Area of Interest in June 2011- the 1st step to becoming a Marine Protected Area.
- More than 100 species have been recorded in the St Anns Bank Area of Interest; a high diversity of species due to a high diversity of habitats.
- The St. Anns Bank Area of Interest ranges from shallow, algae-covered inshore banks, to rocky outcrops, to deep Laurentian Channel.
- The St. Anns Bank MPA Area of Interest is important to depleted groundfish species, like Atlantic cod and Atlantic wolfish.
- Cod and herring from the Gulf of St. Lawrence spend the winter in deep water off Cape Breton, including in St. Anns Bank.
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