About the Expedition

In June 2009, Living Oceans Society led the Finding Coral Expedition, a journey to the bottom of the sea on Canada’s Pacific coast in search of deep sea corals. Using one person submarines, a team of international scientists made 30 dives to depths of over 500 meters and saw giant coral forests, darting schools of fish, and a seafloor carpeted in brittle stars. This research trip was the culmination of five years of work to secure protection for these slow-growing and long-lived animals, which provide critical habitat for fish and other marine creatures that live in the deep corners of our ocean. 

The Finding Coral Expedition is the first of its kind in British Columbia: an expedition specifically designed to study deep water corals and document threats to their well being. The science team is currently analyzing hundreds of hours of dive video to list all the species seen during the dives. The team will also assess species relationships in the coral ecosystems visited by the expedition.

Living Oceans Society mounted the expedition as part of our efforts to get the Canadian Government to protect B.C.’s deep sea corals from destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling. The federal government has taken steps to protect B.C.’s unique glass sponge reefs and it is a good first step. However, there are currently no specific measures in place to protect deep sea corals. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) have said they need more information before they can implement a coral protection strategy because there is insufficient data about corals, their location, and the species that depend on them. We hope that the Finding Coral Expedition changes all that.

The video and data that we gathered should help inform a new marine planning process launched by DFO for the ocean realm adjacent to the Great Bear Rainforest. It is an 88,000 km2 area that extends from Campbell River to Prince Rupert to Haida Gwaii, and has been named by DFO the “Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area” (PNCIMA pronounced “pin-SEE-ma”). The planning process should provide the opportunity for First Nations, fishermen, environmental groups, scientists, DFO and others to work together to conserve the health of this spectacular region.