Hey everyone! My name is Delphine and I am currently doing a master degree on kelp!
I love all kelps! There different colors, shapes and related communities are so intriguing. One kelp species though as caught my attention. Agarum clathratum still offers a lot of mysteries. It seems to be an abundant species both in the Arctic and in the St-Lawrence River in Québec. Although, few research has been done on its ecology or distribution.
So here I am, studying its growth pattern to understand this kelp a little bit better!
Since doing long term fieldwork in the Arctic is extremely challenging, even more with this pandemic situation, the St-Lawrence estuary was a great study site for my project.
In September 2020, I set up 2 underwater experiments near Godbout. Those experiments allowed us to measure growth of A. clathratum and to observe how it varies with the seasons and with the light intensity.
With a DFO team we revisited those experiments multiple times in the last year, even in winter. The St-Lawrence is magnificent at that time of the year, but oooh so cold! Each visit included a lot of underwater measure and photography.
At our last visit, we even saw a big lion’s main jellyfish swimming right through the tagged Agarum! Such a majestic creature! I’ve rarely been so happy to wear dive gloves, since they sting!!
Doing fieldwork in Godbout also means, working with a great team, sharing the bay with curious seals and whales, enjoying nice warm soupers and being blessed with amazing sunrises and sunsets!
Now that we have collected all the data that we need, the field season is over! Time to play with all those data now!!!
