Six years (2009-2015) of oceanographic temperature, salinity, pressure, density and dissolved oxygen observations from a Vancouver Island shelf cabled observatory.

Ocean Networks Canada operates and maintains innovative cabled observatories that supply continuous power and Internet connectivity to various scientific instruments located in coastal, deep-ocean, and Arctic environments. Instruments at Folger Deep are mounted on an steel and plastic instrument platform (IP) placed on the seafloor. The IP also houses a junction box which is part of the system that facilitates power and communications. The near-coast location of the platform off the West Coast of Vancouver Island is well suited for the monitoring of the variability of the coastal water properties (e.g. temperature, salinity, oxygen) and hence the timing of upwelling and downwelling circulation associated with the northern end of the California Current system which is the prime driver of the local oceanic environment. The instrument deployments in the 6 year dataset were conducted over six expeditions, spanning 28th August 2009 to 5th May 2017. Based on a two year calibration schedule, the CTD and oxygen sensors were either recovered and returned to the manufacturer for servicing and replaced by a new instrument, or serviced on the ship and then redeployed. Due to ship-based deployments, minor differences in location and depth have occurred between deployments. Underwater maintenance was performed by various remotely operated vehicles and video recordings of the work are accessible through SeaTube, ONC’s video player.