Underwater Gliders Used to Enhance a Monitoring Program on the Scotian Shelf

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) started the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) in 1998 to sample physical, biological, and chemical conditions in Atlantic Canada. One major component of this program is bi-annual ship-based transects at several locations across the Scotian Shelf. One of these transects, the Halifax Line (HL) extends from near Halifax southward to off the continental slope. Another component is the bi-monthly sampling 20 nm south of Halifax. This data is used to monitor the environmental conditions on the Scotian Shelf for ecosystem management. As well, the AZMP data along with earlier physical data in the same area have been used in climate studies. Due to the historical nature of the HL, the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) used the same line for an acoustic listening curtain for tracking marine species. From 2011 to 2016, OTN operated Slocum gliders on the HL on an ad hoc basis. In 2018, DFO started monitoring the HL with recently acquired Alseamar SeaExplorer gliders. We will present some of the results of seasonal and inter-annual variability along this transect in conjunction with measurements from AZMP.