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ASTAPA
Short Title: ASTAPA Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=293 Using a unique Canadian technology, the ASTAPA system will supplement existing and planned ocean observing systems with the capacity to monitor passages of rare and commercially important animals for up to 20 years and will also extend the reach of physical monitoring systems. The original concept of an Arctic Curtain& (EOI 640, Canada ) to monitor seasonal migrations of fish, expanded through the IPY process and a global proposal to the Canadian Foundation of Innovation for an Ocean Shelf Tracking and Physic Array (OSTAPA). The original EOI for a single line of acoustic receivers through the narrowest channels in the Canadian Archipelago drew interest from marine mammal trackers and ocean observers from the Bering Strait to Norway. So, ASTAPA now includes multiple lines to record direction and speed of travel as well as local oceanographics at key passages. ASTAPA would have the proven data gathering and management capacity of the operational Census of Marine Life (COML) Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) project (www.postcoml.org) to tag animals as small as 20g with individually unique acoustic codes and to follow larger tags for up to 20 years. The Arctic is a more challenging environment, but the POST personnel with technical experience will work with DFO colleagues to develop the logistics for putting the system in place. A consortium would be developed to maintain receiver lines. VR3 receivers, produced by Canadian manufacturer, VEMCO-AMIRIX, allow frequent data recovery for up to seven years simply by putting a hydrophone modem connection in the water. In the Arctic this can be done throughout the winter through an ice hole, and in summer from small boats. Individual receivers record the presence of a tag within a kilometer, so tagged animal movements in open water or under ice can be tracked. Also, VR3s have sensors to measure, store and download physical data via modem, so there is strong synergy and potential savings between physics and biology. As with POST, most tagging would be done by other researchers and consortia. We have identified a broad range of projects interested in the data ASTAPA can return. There are two ways that ASTAPA complements the many projects tagging animals with satellite tags: (1) acoustic tags implanted at the same time provide a unique identifier for up to 20 years, so that changes in individual animal behaviour can be correlated with climate change and (2) data recovery is controlled locally by local people and does not depend on remote multi-billion dollar satellite networks. Planned future developments will add download capacity to VR3 receivers so that data stored in archival tags can be transferred acoustically to receivers instead of by radio to satellites, greatly reducing data costs. ASTAPA complements several of the other IPY EOIs. For example EOI 624 AMBER examines fish distributions, density and reaction to climate change. Much of the field work for this project will be centered in the waterways around Resolute. ASTAPA proposes the installation of an acoustic curtain in this area. The logistical crossover between the two projects will be high. Also, our monitoring of animal movement and the characteristics of the water column will complement AMBER, just as their information of fish fauna composition, density and distribution will complement ASTAPA. Also, EOI 713 Canadian Arctic CoML will provide information on biodiversity that will be valuable in completing the picture of multi species interactions that we observe by animal tracking. Logistical cross-over includes at the least ship time on the CCGS Amundsen. EOI's 663 GWAMM, 77 and 153 MEOP will provide information on the physical attributes of the water column profiled by tagged marine mammals, including information from areas under ice. We will also have similar information. Ship gathered CTD's by these projects will also increase our knowledge of physical variables of the water column as our static lines provide the same information at key points. Also, logistics of equipment movement and animal tagging can be coordinated to reduce effort and cost and maximize results. EOI's 688 COME and 673 Canadian Icebreaker provide transport to remote locations for installation and downloading of acoustic curtain data. While EOI's 682 Freshwater Flux in Canadian Arctic, 80 and 14 IAOOS will provide much needed information on the movement and characteristics of waters throughout the Arctic Archipelago.