An underwater camera in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Placentia Bay is giving researchers and the public a rare look at marine life returning to a newly created artificial reef. Illuminated by an underwater light, the live camera feed captures cunners, crab, lobster and sea urchins moving among swaying kelp and algae-covered reef structures. Every hour, the system takes a two-minute snapshot, with the imagery uploaded to an online visual library that researchers can study for years. The Marine Institute partnered with a major oil company and the government to restore a seafloor zone in Placentia Bay’s Fox Harbour, which is adjacent to a dredging site.
While lobster and crab may be a little camera shy, the Marine Institute of Memorial University’s Reef Ball project in the Fox Harbour area of Placentia Bay hopes to capture marine life at any given moment and track how the ecosystem develops.
