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The
Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents:
Canada's
First Marine Protected Area Under the Oceans Act
With
twelve species found nowhere else on Earth,
this
unique ecosystem is now protected under the
Oceans
Act.
Photo:
Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe |
On March
7, 2003, with the Pacific Canada Gallery of the Vancouver Aquarium
Marine Science Centre as a backdrop, the Minister of Fisheries and
Oceans, Robert G. Thibault, designated the Endeavour Hydrothermal
Vents as Canada’s first official Marine Protected Area under
the Oceans Act. Endeavour was first selected as a pilot MPA in December
1998 because of significant scientific interest in the area. Endeavour
was the first area along the global ridge system to be identified
for official protection and conservation.
The progression
from a pilot MPA to official designation involved a comprehensive
assessment of the ecological, socio-economic and techincal considerations
surrounding the designation of the area. Public consultations were
also a key aspect of the process. The designation as an MPA will
mean that the seabed, plume fluid and chimney structures in the
area will be protected from removal, damage and destruction.
The
Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents
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Dive
down to the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents.
Credit: University of Washington |
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| The
Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents are located 250 km SW of Vancouver
Island, 2,250 metres below sea level.
Map:
Robert Kung,
Geological Survey of Canada
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Two-hundred
and fifty kilometers southwest of Vancouver Island, 2,250 metres
below sea level, lie the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents. Part of the
Juan de Fuca Ridge system, the 90-km Endeavour Area is made up of
large, black, chimney-like structures that spew water heated to
over 300 degrees Celcius. Along the seafloor and along the flanks
of the chimney, there is a wider field of cooler temperatures, about
150 degrees Celsius.
Discovered
for the first time in 1982, the Juan de Fuca Ridge system is home
to about 60 different species. At the Endeavour Area, there are12
species that exist no where else on Earth.
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Organisms
and Habitat of the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents.
Credit: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Université du Québec à Montréal |
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A
vent crab, commonly found at Endeavour.
Credit: Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe and Dr. Kim Juniper |
The Endeavour
area is made up of four high-temperature vent fields and abundant
areas of dispersed flow. Each about 2 kilometers apart, the vent
fields are Salty Dawg, High Rise, Main Endeavour, and Mothra. While
the Main Endeavour and High Rise Fields have been well-mapped and
sampled by researchers, Salty Dawg and Mothra Fields were discovered
more recently and so have been studied less.
The deep
ocean around the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Area is a virtual
abyss. It supports very few life forms; around twenty worms and
brittlestars per square metre. There are up to half a million creatures
per square metre in the areas of diffuse vent flows around the chimney
structures.
Research
at the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents
Kristi Skebo, University
of Victoria
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ROPOS
is a Romotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).
Credit: The Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility
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Imagine
a towering chimney, spewing out hot, sulphide-rich water 2000m below
the surface of the ocean; its black glossy surface blanketed with
animals – worms with bright red gills, snow white snails and
limpets, golden worms… You might wonder how the chimney formed
or why it is where it is. Perhaps you’d wonder how these animals
survive scorching temperatures and smelly water or maybe you’d
like to know how they got there in the first place.
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Probe
monitoring an active vent.
Video: John Garrett, 2WE Associates Consulting Ltd.
and Keith Shepherd, Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility |
For the
past 20 years, scientists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Canadian
and American universities have studied these questions. Because
the vents are so far beneath the ocean surface, scientists use submersible
vehicles like Alvin and Jason (US) and ROPOS (Canada) to study the
vents.
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Removing
a sample of a chimney.
Video: John Garrett, 2WE Associates Consulting Ltd.
and Keith Shepherd, Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility |
Geologists
map the seafloor and take samples of different rocks looking for
clues to finding new vents and for signs of past venting. Chemists
take water samples to determine what chemicals that are present
in the water giving each vent a unique signature and to look for
microorganisms, bacteria and viruses that thrive in this +100oC
water. Biologists identify the different animals they find, determining
which animals occur where – at all vent types or only some,
near to or far from the vents.
By studying
the geology, chemistry and biology of the vents, scientists hope
to better insights into how the vent ecosystem functions and the
role of vents in the deep sea as a whole.
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On
March 7, 2003 the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced
the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents as the first Marine Protected
Area under the Oceans Act.
Watch
the video |
Protecting
this Unique Ecosystem
Kristi
Skebo, University of Victoria
Canada
is setting an international precedent by conserving a vent ecosystem
where other countries are exploring exploitation. Long-term research
at Endeavour is timely as mining companies begin to warm to the
idea of probing the ocean crust for minerals. While mining at the
Endeavour hot vents is not feasible (too few resources), Canada
can take the lead in establishing guidelines for marine mining based
on the knowledge gained from long-term experiments in the MPA.
Equally
important is the conservation of a unique ecosystem; the hot vents
support an incredible abundance of life in a vast oceanic desert.
There are 60 distinct species endemic to the Juan de Fuca Ridge,
of these, 12 are unique to the Endeavour vents. The establishment
of the MPA will help Canada begin to fulfill its obligation to the
global biodiversity convention through fostering the protection
of endemic species and gene pools. The presence of the MPA will
encourage the establishment of long-term ecological and geological
research projects and the study of how the hot vent system may be
affected by human tampering. In short, we need to identify how these
systems function over the long term in order to know how best to
protect them.
Sources:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, University of Washington School of
Oceanography
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