Media Highlights -
November 2002 Edition

Welcome to the November 2002 edition of Wavelengths – a collection of good news stories about DFO in every region of Canada. Communications staff promoted these stories to media across the country.

As summer waned and autumn began, reporters focused on several species under study by DFO scientists, including the tale about a right whale that got away and belugas who may need earplugs in the St. Lawrence River!

Enjoy this edition of Wavelengths and don’t hesitate to contact the editor with questions, comments or story ideas: dundassh@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

JAWS - but no teeth!

uring the last days of the summer, tourists at White Point, Nova Scotia, were surprised to see a basking shark trapped among the rocks at the beach. This species, also known as elephant shark, is the world’s second largest shark and can grow to well over 30 feet in length.

The trapped shark was only three and a half metres long (12 feet) and posed no danger – the basking shark is a plankton eater with no teeth.

As reported in the Liverpool Advance and Canadian Press¸ DFO fishery officers organized the onlookers to keep the shark wrapped in wet towels and help drag it tail-first into shallow water. The listless shark allowed the officers to tie a rope around its tail and tow it to deep water behind a Zodiac patrol vessel in a very undignified position. As it gained strength farther from shore, the shark became most upset and was not keen on the officers removing the rope. After a bit of a struggle, the rescuers were able to cut the rope and watch the shark swim free.

'I'd do this job for free!'

emember that dreaded writing assignment as you returned to school in September – "What I did this summer"? Well, Julia Smith and Malcolm Heinz didn’t have any trouble writing their essay this fall.

The two were featured in a Toronto Star story about the Coast Guard’s Inshore Rescue Boat (IRB) Program in Newfoundland, what many consider the best summer job in Canada. Heinz is a 24-year old student from North Vancouver, and Smith, 18, is a student at Memorial University in St. John’s.

The two reported they loved their work despite the long days and grueling training that took 12 hours a day for 12 days.

Heinz said the ‘coolest’ moment was when a huge Labrador helicopter hovered just above his head during an exercise. "It was loud. It was wet. It was crazy." Don’t tell the Coast Guard, but he even said he’d volunteer to do this job for free.

For Smith, working near the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club close to home, the best memory of the summer was when a pod of whales surrounded her boat near Kellys Island.

The students at the Conception Bay South station put their training and skills to the test, responding to 11 search and rescue calls this past summer.

Rare find in Nova Scotia

omewhere between a Shakespeare character and a Paul Simon song, the name Lophelia Pertusa doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. But when this reef-building coral was sighted for the first time in Canada by a DFO marine biologist, it made news across the country.

Better known as ‘spider hazard’ because of its weblike structure, the 15-metre long chunk of living white coral was found by Pal Mortensen, east of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, below more than 300 metres of water. The species is known to grow in Norway and other parts of Europe, but had never been seen in Canada.

Mortensen is visiting from Norway to study Atlantic Canada’s corals and the dangers posed by fishing gear to the fragile plants.

Training tomorrow's scientists

n September, The Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) held its first open house – not an easy task when you’re trying to showcase 600 square kilometres of laboratory in Northern Ontario.

The successful event received rave reviews from 50 residents of Kenora, the closest town, who toured DFO’s massive research lab that includes 58 lakes. The Kenora Enterprise and the Kenora Miner & News reported on the centre’s history and its role in developing scientific data about freshwater systems, environmental factors and fish habitats. Scientists and students come from around the world to conduct experiments that can’t be replicated in laboratories.

Stephen Page, of the ELA’s aquachemistry lab, says there is great diversity in the work done by the Canadian and international researchers.

A little too close to the whales

n two regions of the department, scientists and the Coast Guard are working hard to help two species of whales that have been harmed by human interaction.

In Quebec, DFO has begun a three-year study of the effect of noise pollution on the beluga whales in the Saguenay and lower St Lawrence Rivers. It seems the beloved belugas are having a hard time hearing each other over the sounds of passing whale-watching boats, ferries and freighters.

Le Soleil, Canadian Press and Radio Canada all reported on the important work conducted by researchers such as Yvan Simard, at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Rimouski, who is studying the effects of climate change and fish stocks on the lifecycle of the great mammals.

On another front, researchers and Coast Guard crews had a busy summer chasing several right whales in the Bay of Fundy who had become entangled in fishing gear on their migration up the Eastern seaboard.

The survival of every right whale is crucial to the endangered species, and every attempt was made to cut ropes, nets and buoys from the bodies and heads of several whales.

In late August, researchers tried unsuccessfully to attach a tail harness to a right whale off Grand Manan Island that had wrapped itself in several metres of fishing rope. Sadly, this whale was found dead on the shores of Cape Cod in October.

Media followed the events closely, including a feature in The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal that praised the Coast Guard for its tireless efforts and support.

A crew change.... with a difference

hen the 50-person crew of the Coast Guard’s largest icebreaker, the Louis St. Laurent, ended their five-week shift in Barrow, Alaska, a fresh team was brought in from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. A lucky reporter from the Halifax Daily News, was offered the last seat on the charter jet and a chance to report on the 5,000-kilometre trip that took 30 hours.

We don’t know if Chris Lambie considered it a luxury tour, but his story put a human face on the Coast Guard crews who work in the far North. He wrote of the ship’s amenities including a video library and fitness room, and the natural wonders of the scenery and wildlife such as polar bears.

The happiest people in the story seemed to be the crewmembers who were on their way home. Captain Martin Marsden, heading back to Sackville, is used to being away from home for much longer periods, and accepts being away from home as a way of life. However, he like the rest of his crew, was looking forward to being back home.

Coast Guard ready for Prime Time

anadians will soon have a new reality TV show to watch. It’s powerful, it’s exciting, and no one eats any bugs!

A one-hour documentary on the men and women of the Coast Guard in the Maritimes is in the final stages of production in Halifax. Produced by Topsail Entertainment, one of the largest production companies in Eastern Canada, Coast Guard Chronicles, captures search and rescue activity, enforcement patrols, training, right whale rescue attempts, dory races and day to day life aboard the vessels and at the stations operated by the CCG.

The department will have access to all the footage shot by the video crew, including rare aerial footage of a migrating right whale, beautiful scenic shots of the Maritimes Region and dramatic footage of Coast Guard vessels at work.

Watch In the Loop for an announcement of the airdate, and contact the Wavelengths editor if you have any questions.
dundassh@dfo-mpo.gc.ca