OTTAWA, Sept. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Some rarely studied but colorful marine life from the coastal waters of Canada’s western Arctic are the focus of a new research program led by the Canadian Museum of Nature. And SCUBA gear is a must to study up close!

The project is led by Dr. Amanda Savoie, a museum researcher who studies marine macroalgae – what most know as algae, and for which there are three main groups: red, brown and green algae.

The multi-year program kicked off this August with the first field season, which spanned five weeks on the ground and in the water through September 20th. Algae research is focused on Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuuttiaq) on Victoria Island, Nunavut. The community of 1,800 is home to the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, operated by Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR) and collaborating with the museum on the research project.

Onsite research support includes divers who assist with underwater collection, access to laboratory facilities, and the provision of boats and other equipment needed to access inshore and offshore study areas.

“Algae are marine superstars. They are an important part of coastal ecosystems and provide habitat for other marine life and energy as part of the food chain, but like many marine organisms they are vulnerable to the warming effects of climate change,” says Savoie, who is also director of the museum’s Center for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration . “Getting scientific information about their diversity and distribution in the Canadian Arctic will provide new insights that can help track the impacts of climate change over time.”

To date, an estimated 175 species of algae are known to exist in the Canadian Arctic. Savoie says the project is certain to uncover new records for algae in the western Arctic, as the latest taxonomic investigation dates back more than four decades to the work of museum researcher RKS Lee. His arctic specimens from the 1960s and…