Description:Seasonal climatologies for salinity of the Northeast Pacific Ocean were computed to cover the period 2001 to 2020. Historibal observations included all available conductivity-temperature_depth (CTD), bottle and profiling floats in the NODC World Ocean Database, Marine Environmental Data Services (MEDS), Institute of Ocean Sciences Water Properties website and the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System (CIOOS Pacific).Methods:Interpolation was carried out in up to fifty-two vertical levels from surface to 5000m. Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis (DIVA) was used for spatial interpolation for all years within each season and estimates projected onto a consistent grid. The average of the grid nodes was calculated to obtain the seasonal climatology. DIVA was used again on the final climatology followed by a median filter and a 5-point smoother. Spring months were defined as April to June, summer months were defined as July to September, fall months were defined as October to December, and winter months were defined as January to March. The data available here contain raster layers of seasonal salinity climatology for the Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a subset of seasonal climatology of the Northeast Pacific Ocean, with high spatial resolution of 1/300 degree.Data Sources:NODC, MEDS, IOS and CIOOS Pacific Data.Uncertainties:Uncertainties are introduced when quality controlled observational data are spatially interpolated to varying distances from the observation point. Climatological averages are calculated from these interpolated values.

This data report provides information on temperature and salinity in the Godbout region of the St. Lawrence Estuary. Sampling was carried out from 2019 to 2021 over an area of <5 km2. The databases provide information on temperature and salinity at an hourly rate for 2 years. The aim of this project is to analyze telemetry data from sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis), snow crabs (Chionoecetes opilio), rock crabs (Cancer irroratus), spider crabs (Hyas spp.) and whelks (Buccinum undatum). This report focuses on the presentation of benthic environmental data collected throughout the study with high spatial and temporal resolution. All reported variables were collected at the seafloor, as the aim of the project was to study the movement of epibenthic species. Temperature data were collected from three devices: telemetry receivers with integrated temperature sensors (InnovaseaTM), HoboTM and Star-OddiTM probes. Temperature data processing involved cleaning up extreme values (below 2°C and above 20°C) and homogenizing the data to fit the bathymetry matrix (1m x 1m cells) of the study site. Temperature data are provided in a NetCDF file with a matrix of the entire study site, where there is a stratum for each hour between August 2019 and October 2021 and in each file, a temperature value for each pixel of the raster. Salinity data were collected from Star-OddiTM probes only. Salinity values were averaged hourly for the entire study area. Salinity data is provided as a CSV file with one salinity value per hour for the entire study area.

Daily sea surface temperature and salinity observations have been carried out at several locations on the coast of British Columbia since the early part of the 20th century. Observations started at the Pacific Biological Station (Departure Bay) in 1914; 11 stations were added in the mid-1930s and several more in the 1960s. The number of stations reporting at any given time has varied as sampling has been discontinued at some stations and started or resumed at others.Presently termed the British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program (BCSOP), there are 12 active participating stations. Most of the stations are at lighthouses staffed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, but three (Race Rocks, Amphitrite Point, and Active Pass) are sampled by contracted observers.Observations are made daily using seawater collected in a bucket lowered into the surface water at or near the daytime high tide. This sampling method was designed long ago by Dr. John P. Tully and has not been changed in the interests of a homogeneous data set. This means, for example, that if an observer starts sampling one day at 6 a.m., and continues to sample at the daytime high tide on the second day the sample will be taken at about 06:50 the next day, 07:40 the day after etc. When the daytime high-tide gets close to 6 p.m. the observer will then begin again to sample early in the morning, and the cycle continues. Since there is a day/night variation in the sea surface temperatures the daily time series will show a signal that varies with the14-day tidal cycle. This artifact does not affect the monthly sea surface temperature data.

This dataset contains the surface temperature and salinity data of the enlarged coastal thermograph network of the St. Lawrence river, estuary and gulf system. It includes data from the Canadian Hydrographic Service water level network (SINECO), the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)-Quebec long-termed thermograph monitoring program network and the oceanographic buoy network.Each station is linked with a .png file showing the temperature and salinity time series and with a .csv file containing the surface temperature and salinity data themselves (columns : Station,Latitude,Longitude,Date(UTC),Depth/Profondeur(m),Temperature/Température(ºC),Salinity/Salinité(psu)).Supplemental InformationA detailed description of the networks (SINECO, oceanographic buoys and the DFO-Quebec thermograph monitoring program) is available at the St. Lawrence Global Observatory (SLGO) portal :SINECO : https://ogsl.ca/en/tide-gauges-dfo-chs/Oceanographic buoys : https://ogsl.ca/en/marine-conditions-buoys-dfo/Thermographs: https://ogsl.ca/en/marine-conditions-thermographs-dfo/Technical Reports related to the Thermograph Network (the last one is also available at the same hypertext link mentionned above) :Pettigrew, B., Gilbert, D. and Desmarais R. 2016. Thermograph network in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Can. Tech. Rep. Hydrogr. Ocean Sci. 311: vi + 77 p.Pettigrew, B., Gilbert, D. and Desmarais R. 2017. Thermograph network in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: 2014-2016 update. Can. Tech. Rep. Hydrogr. Ocean Sci. 317: vii + 54 p.

Description:Seasonal mean salinity from the British Columbia continental margin model (BCCM) were averaged over the 1981 to 2010 period to create seasonal mean climatology of the Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone.Methods:Salinities at up to forty-six linearly interpolated vertical levels from surface to 2400 m and at the sea bottom are included. Spring months were defined as April to June, summer months were defined as July to September, fall months were defined as October to December, and winter months were defined as January to March. The data available here contain raster layers of seasonal salinity climatology for the Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone at 3 km spatial resolution and 47 vertical levels.Uncertainties:Model results have been extensively evaluated against observations (e.g. altimetry, CTD and nutrient profiles, observed geostrophic currents), which showed the model can reproduce with reasonable accuracy the main oceanographic features of the region including salient features of the seasonal cycle and the vertical and cross-shore gradient of water properties. However, the model resolution is too coarse to allow for an adequate representation of inlets, nearshore areas, and the Strait of Georgia.

Description:Seasonal mean salinity from the British Columbia continental margin model (BCCM) were averaged over the 1993 to 2020 period to create seasonal mean climatology of the Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone.Methods:Salinities at up to forty-six linearly interpolated vertical levels from surface to 2400 m and at the sea bottom are included. Spring months were defined as April to June, summer months were defined as July to September, fall months were defined as October to December, and winter months were defined as January to March. The data available here contain raster layers of seasonal salinity climatology for the Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone at 3 km spatial resolution and 47 vertical levels.Uncertainties:Model results have been extensively evaluated against observations (e.g. altimetry, CTD and nutrient profiles, observed geostrophic currents), which showed the model can reproduce with reasonable accuracy the main oceanographic features of the region including salient features of the seasonal cycle and the vertical and cross-shore gradient of water properties. However, the model resolution is too coarse to allow for an adequate representation of inlets, nearshore areas, and the Strait of Georgia.

This inventory, conducted from September 26th to October 3th, 2019, aimed to describe the community structure of macroalgae and benthic macroinvertebrates of five small estuaries of the Upper North Shore of Quebec, namely Barthélemy Bay and the Colombier, Mistassini, Franquelin and Saint-Nicolas rivers. This inventory is part of a doctoral study of Valentine Loiseau on the global changes in the St. Lawrence system, mainly the study of marine benthic communities in response to changes of salinity, to ensure proper management of the environment in the face of future changes. The main objective is to describe the structure and the levels of specific diversities of mediolittoral communities of benthic macroinvertebrates and macroalgae along a salinity gradient. These five small estuaries were selected because of their similar size, hard substrates and easy access. Three levels of hypoosmotic stress (low, medium, high) and one control level (seawater) were used for each of the selected estuaries, with eight quadrats per stress level. Quadrat positions were randomly selected but had to meet two criteria: (1) regular height in the foreshore to control the influence of other stresses (temperature, exposure); and (2) presence of at least one macroalga to maintain homogeneity. A percentage cover by macroalgal and macroinvertebrate species was estimated, and then all organisms were weighed by species and size group. The salinity of the nearest water point was measured at mid-tide with a portable refractometer and a Castaway-type CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Density) probe. The inventory was done using a stratified random sampling design and the sampling unit was a quadrat measuring 25 x 25 cm. The three files provided (DarwinCore format) are complementary and are linked by the "eventID" key. The "event_information" file includes the generic information of the quadrat, including date and location. The "additional_information_event_and_occurrence" file includes salinity and substrate type of the quadrat, as well as the total weight of all individuals of the same species caught in the quadrat extrapolated to one square metre of surface. For nudibranchs and barnacles, weight was estimated from the size of the individuals so that they were not removed from the environment. The "taxon_occurrence" file includes the taxonomic inventory of macroalgal and benthic macroinvertebrate species observed in the quadrat, identified to the lowest possible species or taxonomic level and biomass by identified species.For quality control, organisms were identified on the field using the following guide: Chabot, Robert et Anne Rossignol. 2003. Algues et faune du littoral du Saint-Laurent maritime : Guide d'identification. Institut des Sciences de la mer de Rimouski, Rimouski ; Pêches et Océans Canada (Institut Maurice-Lamontagne), Mont-Joli. 113 pages. The taxonomy was checked against the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to match recognized standards and using the R obistools and worrms libraries. The WoRMS match was placed in the "scientificNameID" field of the occurrence file. All sample locations were spatially validated. This project was funded by DFO Coastal Environmental Baseline Program under Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan. This initiative aims to acquire environmental baseline data contributing to the characterization of important coastal areas and to support evidence-based assessments and management decisions for preserving marine ecosystems.

Description:The Regional Freshwater Index Layers dataset is composed of five single-band raster layers in GeoTIFF format. Each layer corresponds to a marine region, which generally coincide with the following layers from the Species Distribution Modelling Boundaries dataset: Nearshore_HG, Nearshore_NCC, Nearshore_QCS, Nearshore_WCVI, and Shelf_SalishSea. The main purpose of the dataset is to supplement existing layers that are used for species distribution modelling in the Pacific nearshore marine environment. Each regional freshwater index layer has the same spatial resolution and extent as other predictor layers for the corresponding region. While salinity layers exist from oceanographic models, they may not capture local difference from smaller scale rivers and streams entering the marine environment. Therefore, these layers are meant to complement salinity layers and are not suitable as a replacement for salinity data in species modelling.Methods:The cell values represent an estimate of freshwater influence on a 0-1 scale, where a higher value represents a greater level of freshwater influence. Details on how these values are determined is described in the supplemental information section of the metadata. The main data source for these derived products is the B.C. Freshwater Atlas, including the stream network and river polygons layers.Uncertainties:The values in the rasters are not a measure of salinity. The units are an index representing the level of freshwater influence weighted by the stream order and rescaled across regions on a 0-1 scale where only the region with the greatest value has a range of values 0-1 and the other regions are scaled relatively. This is done to ensure that values in one region can be compared to values in another region. As a result, some regions have very small values because the Salish Sea with the Fraser River is dominant, even after applying a rescale factor to the data.

The wind power density layer shows the modeled wind power density [W/m2] at a height of 100 m above ground level, at each grid point, averaged over the three year period from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010. Values are presented in bins with ranges of 0.5 W/m2 each. Further details including data at different heights, and for individual years, can be obtained by clicking on the dot representing the grid point location.

11 tagged Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) were tracked during the daytime movements as well as the feeding behaviour in the St. Lawrence River estuary. Kernel density was applied to derminate the high density feeding areas of all individuals combined (30, 40, 50, 60, 75, 95 %).Doniol-Valcroze T, Lesage V, Giard J, Michaud R, 2012. Challenges in marine mammal habitat modelling: evidence of multiple foraging habitats from the identification of feeding events in blue whales. Endang Species Res, Vol. 17 : 255–268, doi : 10.3354/esr00427(English version only)