A team, managed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada, will collect data using radars and hydrophones installed south of the Estuary, near the green island.
The objective is to identify the impact that the waves issued by maritime boats have in the lifestyle of belugas.
Florian Aulanier, scientific researcher in submarine acoustic with peaches and Oceans Canada, explains that the presence of boats already disrupts the activities of these mammals with precarious status.
The noises that boats can interfere with vocalizations or clicks issued by belugas which allow them, among other things, to feed and move.
Florian Aulanier is a scientific researcher in underwater acoustic for peaches and Oceans Canada.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Roxane Tremblay
The researcher adds that the study also aims to obtain a more precise portrait of maritime gleam traffic. Radars will help identify smaller recreation ships or that do not have an automatic identification system
specifies Mr. Aulanier.
The smaller nautical boats include boats of less than 500 tons and those which are intended to transport less than 12 passengers.
Innovative project
The scientific director for the research and education group on marine mammals (GREMM), Robert Michaud, believes that this new study will complete part of the gaps around the knowledge of Beluga.
The piece that is lacking critically to our knowledge is the interactions between boaters and belugas
he admits. We hope that this study will collectively help us find solutions to better share the St. Lawrence with the Belugas.
Robert Michaud is president and scientific director of the research and education group on marine mammals (GREMM).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Fabienne Tercaefs
Florian Aulanier says it is the first time that this technology has been used in the region. The radar emits a small electromagnetic impulse which will spread in the air until the boat. Part of the electromagnetic signal will then be retraded to the radar to allow it to calculate its positioning
explains the researcher.
An important area
A total of four radars were installed in mid-June on the coast of the Green Island, the Red Island and the Apple Island. Florian Aulanier believes that these radars will make it possible to cover the southern area of the estuary, an important area in the habitat of beluga, also called the southern channel.
The southern channel is a pit that is 100 meters deep. It is connected to the Laurentian channel, which is a place rich in food production.
Robert Michaud adds that the southern channel is an area extremely frequented by one of the two main communities of belugas females, as well as their young.
Researcher Florian Aulanier explains that data processing could take more than a year. This study is part of the second phase of the ocean protection plan, which extends from 2023 to 2028.