Great Bear Lake, N.W.T. - 1963, No. 13 in 1964 Data Record Series, Canadian Oceanographic Data Center (NODC Accession 7500188)

Great Bear Lake has an area of 29,500 km^2 and it is the fourth largest lake in North America. It is situated at an elevation of 169 m (515 ft) and has a maximum depth of 427 m (1,410 ft) so that 257 m (840 ft) are below sea level. The deepest part lies about five miles off the eastern end of McTavish Arm along the edges of Pre-Cambrian shield.

In June 1963 a limnological survey was started on Great Bear using the M.V. "Radium Gilbert", a vessel of 270 tons and 120 ft length, under the command of Capitan A. McInnes of the Northern Transportation Company. The ship was fitted with a gasoline/hydraulic oceanographic winch and a Kelvin-Huges echo sounder for limnological observations, a Mb XV Sperry Gyroscopic compass and a Decca Radar model 212 for navigation purposes.

The programme was carried out by the Arctic Unit of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada.

Great Bear is normally ice-covered from the end of November to the last week of July. In 1963 the season started early and navigation was possible by 12th July.

One hundred and three stations were occupied: Stations 003, 011, 004, were occupied at regular intervals through the season and represent a gradient from extreme oligotrophy to be the entropic conditions likely to be found in the lake.

大熊湖（Great Bear Lake）面积达29500平方千米，为北美第四大湖泊。其海拔高度为169米（515英尺），最大水深427米（1410英尺），即有257米（840英尺）的水域位于海平面以下。该湖最深区域位于麦克塔维什湾（McTavish Arm）东端外约5英里处，沿前寒武纪地盾（Pre-Cambrian shield）的边缘分布。
1963年6月，研究人员依托270吨级、船长120英尺的“镭德·吉尔伯特”号（M.V. "Radium Gilbert"）科考船，启动了大熊湖的湖沼学调查（limnological survey），该船由北方运输公司的A·麦金尼斯上尉指挥。船上搭载有汽油-液压驱动海洋学绞车与开尔文-休斯回声测深仪（Kelvin-Huges echo sounder），用于湖沼学观测；同时配备Mb XV型斯佩里陀螺罗盘（Sperry Gyroscopic compass）与德卡雷达212型（Decca Radar model 212）以保障导航需求。
本次调查项目由加拿大渔业研究委员会北极工作组执行。
大熊湖通常于11月底至7月最后一周处于封冻状态。1963年封冻季开启较早，当年7月12日即可实现通航。
本次调查共布设103个采样站位：其中003、011、004号站位在整个调查季按固定间隔布设，其采样梯度覆盖了从极端寡营养（oligotrophy）状态到该湖可能存在的熵增环境条件。