Mapping Canada’s Seabed
Mountains, sunken vessels and shoal. There are many obstacles impeding mariner safety in our waters. Learn how the Canadian Hydrographic Society uses cutting-edge technology to look below the surface and develop various navigational products to keep our waterways and mariners safe.
Transcript
Imagine a 4-lane highway.
It enables the transport of large amounts of people and products.
It traverses around mountains and man-made obstacles and as a result, cargo is delivered to where it is intended.
Now imagine if that highway was under the ocean or a large lake; those mountains and obstacles may also exist under water but now they cannot be seen.
People and products still need to be transported and need to be kept safe from unseen hazards.
How can mariners navigate safely when they can’t see what lies before them?
The chart makers of the Canadian Hydrographic Service help solve this problem.
The role of the Canadian Hydrographic Service is to collect data and produce navigational products in support of safe maritime transportation, ocean & freshwater mapping, coastal natural hazard monitoring and sovereignty.
The CHS collects data on the seabed of Canada’s oceans, lakes and rivers to create accurate navigational products used by recreational boaters, fishers, industry, commercial shipping, national defence, oil, gas and mineral exploration, marine environmental protection and search and rescue.
In 1883, 150 people lost their lives when the steamship Asia ran aground and sank in Georgian Bay.
Almost immediately, calls went out to conduct surveys of the Great Lakes in order to make navigation safer.
The Georgian Bay Survey was established in 1889 and, in 1904, became the Hydrographic Survey of Canada.
Often confused with a map, a chart is much more than that.
It is a living, legal document, which must be updated to reflect the changes in Canada's oceans, lakes and rivers to support safe navigation.
The process to collect data and create a chart is complicated and time consuming.
Before a survey, all the existing data about a specific area is gathered and assessed.
This data will help guide the survey crew to collect new high resolution data of the bottom of Canada's oceans, lakes and rivers.
CHS uses the latest technologies to collect high-resolution depth measurements.
This high-resolution bathymetry provides the CHS with highly accurate measurements and allows for the production of detailed and accurate navigational charts that help protect lives, property and the marine environment.
The bathymetric data is collected using a sonar system in which sound waves are bounced off of the seabed and the return time results in a measurement of depths and an indication of any hazards that may be present
Hydrographers consolidate these measurements with shoreline and data about the land features.
The information most critical to safe navigation is selected and enhanced and the resulting CHS charts are produced in both paper and digital format.
The portrayal of the hydrographic information on the chart must meet international standards so that regardless of what country a ship is coming from, the chart is well understood by the mariner.
Because maritime transportation provides by far the most economic means to transport goods, significant economic benefits are also realized as a result of navigational charts.
With reliable information concerning the limiting depths for the routes their ships must transit, shipping companies can deliver their cargo more efficiently and with a reduced carbon footprint.
Mining companies use marine transportation corridors to move their products from mine to smelter, and northern communities can get more cost-effective delivery of goods and services.
Charts also provide for the delineation of Canada's maritime boundaries, thereby asserting sovereignty for Canada.
As well as creating navigational charts, the CHS monitors a network of water level stations across the country; some of these are part of the tsunami early-warning system.
In addition, the CHS is responsible for the production of Sailing Directions, which provide a narrative of what the mariner should expect when navigating in a given area.
The Canada Shipping Act prescribes legislated requirements for mariners to carry the most up-to-date officially licensed navigational products.
Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world.
More than a third of its territory is under water.
Its oceans, lakes and rivers are used by millions of mariners every year for tourism and recreation, fishing and industry, commercial shipping and national defence.
For over a hundred years, the CHS has provided services which assist marine transportation, and ocean and freshwater fisheries.
These services also support initiatives that regard coastal natural hazards such as tsunami monitoring, and they assist in the establishment and assertion of Canadian sovereignty.
The surveys and charting of Canadian waters to ensure their safe, sustainable and navigable use will continue to be the pride of the Canadian Hydrographic Service.
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