Ten Years of Observatory Science from Saanich Inlet

The Saanich Inlet network of the VENUS cabled ocean observatory, maintained and operated by Ocean Networks Canada, was installed in February 2006, and in 2016 will have supported ten years of comprehensive interactive science. Representing the first in the present generation of innovative cabled observing technologies, this coastal array has provided continuous high power and broadband communications to a variety of instrument platforms, hundreds of sensors, and enabled dozens of short, medium, and long-term studies. Saanich Inlet is a protected fjord within the Salish Sea, with limited tidal action, resulting in an extremely productive environment, with strong seasonal chemical variations driven by episodic deep water renewal events and oxygen reduction processes. The breadth of the research has included microbial and benthic community dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, forensics, quantifying inter-annual variations, benthic-pelagic coupling, sensor testing, plankton dynamics, and bio-turbulence. Observatory measurements include core water properties (CTD & O2) and water-column echo-sounder records, as well as experiment-oriented deployments utilizing cameras, Gliders, Dopplers, hydrophones, and a variety of biogeochemical sensors. With a recently installed Buoy Profiler System for monitoring the entire water column, community plans continue with a dedicated Redox experiment through the 2016-17 seasons. Highlights from the dozens of research papers and theses will be presented to demonstrate the achievements enabled by a comprehensive coastal cabled observing system in the Salish Sea