This cartographic dataset represents a geomorphological update of the boundaries of the five inland water bodies that form the Magdalen Islands Marine Refuge. It was produced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) as part of its marine refuge characterization work.The data used comes from the August 15, 2022 version of the Quebec maritime Geospatial Database of Coastal Ecosystems (GDB), developed from various sources including satellite and airborne images from 2019 (Jobin et al. 2021; Provencher-Nolet et al. 2024). The boundaries of the inland water bodies were defined according to the upper high tide line, which represents the maximum extent of the water during the highest tides.The final product is a polygonal shapefile representing the five inland water bodies of the marine refuge as well as the terrestrial areas of the archipelago. The data are projected in NAD83 / MTM zone 4.For more information on the method used to generate this layer from the GDB, see Grégoire et al. (2026). The method used to create the source geospatial data is described in Jobin et al. (2021) and Provencher-Nolet et al. (2024).

The data layer (.shp) presented is the result of an unsupervised classification method for classifying seafloor habitat in the Bay of Fundy (Northwest Atlantic, Canada). This method involves separating environmental variables derived from multibeam bathymetry (slope, bathymetric position index), backscatter, and oceanographic information (wave-shear current velocity) into spatial units (i.e. image objects) and classifying the acoustically and oceanographically separated units into 7 habitat classes (Bedrock and Boulders, Mixed Sediments, Gravelly Sand, Sand, Silty Gravel with Anemones, Silt, and Tidal Scoured Mixed Sediments) using in-situ data (imagery). Benthoscape classes (synonymous to landscape classifications in terrestrial ecology) describe the geomorphology and biology of the seafloor and are derived from elements of the seafloor that were acoustically and oceanographically distinguishable. Reference:Wilson, B.R., Brown, C.J., Sameoto, J.A., Lacharite, M., Redden, A. (2021). Mapping seafloor habitats in the Bay of Fundy to assess macrofaunal assemblages associated with Modiolus modiolus beds. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107294Cite this data as: Wilson, B.R., Brown, C.J., Sameoto, J.A., Lacharite, M., Redden, A. Bay of Fundy Benthoscape. Published May 2023. Population Ecology Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/dbabd17a-a2c7-4b3f-9bd8-a77a9c7f9c1c

This dataset contains observations of species occurrences from seafloor imagery collected by the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) during the 2012 Expedition to Cobb Seamount. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration-operated SeaBED-class AUV which collected photographic images from 4 transects ranging from 436 m to 1154 m in depth.

This dataset contains observations of species occurrences from seafloor imagery collected by the remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) during the 2012 Expedition to Cobb Seamount. The ROV operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada was a customized Deep Ocean Engineering Phantom HD2+2 which collected photographic images from 12 transects ranging from 35 m to 211 m in depth.

PURPOSE:Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga whales form one of the largest summering aggregations of the species in the Mackenzie Estuary. In 2010, the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area (TNMPA) was designated to protect beluga whales and their habitats As a part of ongoing ecological monitoring efforts in the TN MPA, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) was implemented in 2011 to act as continuous monitoring method, filling the temporal gaps associated with historical aerial surveys. Beginning in 2014, PAM effort increased each year, and oceanographic sensors were added to moorings to (1) better understand oceanographic conditions within the TN MPA and (2) examine the environmental parameters that drive beluga movement and habitat use patterns within the estuary. Several studies using this dataset have been completed, and others are ongoing. However, much more can be done with the acoustic and environmental data. The purpose of this report is to outline deployment methods and instrument settings for moorings to support the full use of the data collected. DESCRIPTION:Each summer, Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga whales form one of the largest aggregations of the species in the Mackenzie Estuary. In 2010, the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area (TNMPA) was designated in the estuary to protect beluga whales and their habitats. As a part of ongoing ecological monitoring efforts in the TN MPA, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) was implemented in 2011 to act as continuous monitoring method, filling the temporal gaps associated with historical aerial surveys. Beginning in 2014, PAM effort increased each year, and oceanographic sensors were added to each PAM mooring to (1) better understand oceanographic conditions (i.e., temperature, salinity, turbidity, and wave conditions) within the TN MPA and (2) to examine the environmental parameters that drive beluga movement and habitat use patterns within the estuary. Moorings have been deployed with varying configurations of oceanographic sensors in Kugmallit Bay since 2015, but typically record water temperature, salinity, depth, and wave conditions. In 2018, the program was expanded to the Niaqunnaq parcel of the MPA (Shallow Bay), and in 2021 it was expanded again to the Okeevik parcel of the MPA. These observatories have provided new knowledge about drivers of beluga habitat use in the TN MPA, in particular in Kittigaryuit, but more recently in Niaqunnaq and Okeevik.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Maritime Science Branch has collected grain size data from sediment and water column samples using bottle samples, sediment cores, and sediment grabs as part of numerous research projects not only in the Atlantic provinces, but also worldwide. The data collected by DFO focuses on the fine grained (<1mm) particles as these are both a source of food and means of contaminant transport. Grain size data are used to study the fate and distribution of complimentary chemistries like heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons, aquaculture waste as well as a variety of physical processes such as the resuspension and transport of sediment.

This dataset was designed for Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) National Environmental Emergencies Center (NEEC) for oil spill preparedness and response. The polygons from this layer come from the coastal ecosystems geodatabase as part of the Mapping of coastal ecosystems of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence project. This layer represents semi-vegetated (25-75%) and vegetated (75-100%) zones of which marsh vegetation is the dominant. The study area includes all of the estuarine and maritime coasts of Quebec, with the exception of certain sectors, including most of the Lower North Shore and Anticosti Island, with the exception of villages of Kegaska, la Romaine, Chevery, Blanc-Sablon and Port-Menier. Some islands off the estuary and gulf coasts are part of the region covered, such as Île d'Orléans, Isle-aux-Coudres, Île Verte and Île Bonaventure.The mapping of coastal ecosystems was carried out jointly by the Laboratory for Dynamics and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (LDGIZC) of the University of Quebec at Rimouski as part of the Coastal Resilience Project (https: //ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/projets/projet-resilience-cotiere) funded by the MELCC; and by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada team, as part of its Integrated marine response planning (IMRP) component of the Oceans Protection Plan (OPP), with the objective of updating the Marine Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Regime of Canada. The master geodatabase of coastal ecosystems is hosted and distributed by UQAR on their SIGEC-Web mapping platform: https://ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/sigecwebThe characterization of marshes was mainly carried out using photo-interpretation of RVBI aerial photos acquired by DFO (2015-2020) and oblique photos taken by helicopter acquired by UQAR in 2017. This dataset also includes the information from validation stations visited by UQAR (2018-2020), used to validate and refine the photo-interpretation.

This dataset is a compilation of numerous data files recovered as part of a data request in 2024 from a historical archive of DFO research data. Sediment and Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) samples were collected over more than a decade as part of Dr. Douglas Loring’s research program while working at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO). Samples were collected as part of individual and collaborative research projects, and links to the relevant primary science publications and reports are included in the data in an effort to provide context to the data, as well as describe the field and laboratory techniques used to generate the attached data.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) selected the Manicouagan Peninsula area as a site of interest for the possible establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in 1998. With this in mind, DFO conducted surveys to assess benthic biodiversity between 2006 and 2008. During the various campaigns, more than a hundred stations were sampled using various tools to target epibenthic and endobenthic species. Various tools were used during the three years of sampling, including an SM (Smith-McIntyre) grab with an area of 0.1 m² and a height of 20 cm, an IKU-type grab with a surface area of 1.5 m² and a height of 50 cm, and a hydraulic dredge measuring 1.36 m wide and 0.66 m high with a net mesh size of 2.3 cm. As the dredge clogged fairly quickly, small organisms were collected in abundance. In 2006 and 2007, a camera mounted on a sled pulled by a boat along transects of varying lengths depending on the sampling campaign collected images (3,008 x 2,000 pixels) every 10 seconds, representing a seabed area of 40 x 40 cm.The data are presented in Darwin Core format in the file “donnees_manicouagan_data” The available data include taxonomic identifications of samples (individuals collected or identified in images) as well as metadata related to stations, including sampling date, depth, and geographic coordinates. Please note that the depths are for informational purposes only, since the bathymetry is very steep in this region.Further details on sampling can be found in the following report: Provencher, L et Nozères, C. 2011. Protocole de suivi des communautés benthiques de la zone de protection marine Manicouagan. Secr. can. de consult. sci. du MPO. Doc. de rech. 2011/051. iv +25 p. https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibliotheque/344357.pdf

Geochemistry includes information related to rock samples and sediment samples.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**