A new scientific voyage is underway off Haida Gwaii, mapping and exploring deep-sea ecosystems that are central to the Council of the Haida Nation’s ongoing push for stronger marine protections.
The NorthEast Pacific Deep-sea Exploration Project (NEPDEP) set sail Sept. 4 aboard the Canpac Valour for a two-week expedition that runs until Sept. 18. Using the remotely operated vehicle Mantis, the team is diving on seamounts and other underwater features, capturing high-resolution imagery and gathering samples from habitats thousands of metres below the surface.
The 2025 mission is focused on three key areas: the Tuzo Wilson Seamount Complex, the Tang.Gwan · ḥačxwiqak · Tsig̱is Marine Protected Area, and proposed Haida Gwaii MPA network sites. These are places already flagged as ecologically and biologically significant, and the new data will help guide how they are protected and managed in the years ahead.
For the Haida Nation, the expedition is directly relevant. The CHN is a core NEPDEP partner, and Haida marine planners are on the science team. The discoveries feed into the network of MPAs being advanced under recent agreements between CHN, Canada and British Columbia. In 2023, all three governments signed on to the Northern Shelf Bioregion MPA Network Action Plan, and in 2024, they committed to collaborative governance for sites in Haida waters.
What scientists are doing at sea goes beyond exploration. The Mantis vehicle is documenting vulnerable species such as corals and sponges, while hydrographic surveyors create detailed seafloor maps. Sampling teams collect water and sediment to track biodiversity and ocean changes. The dives are livestreamed, giving the public a rare look at marine life that is usually hidden in the dark.
The work builds on NEPDEP’s 2024 voyage aboard the Canadian Coast Guard ship J. P. Tully, when researchers filmed the Hecate Strait glass sponge reefs, surveyed SGáan Kínghlas–Bowie Seamount, and discovered a deep-sea skate nursery ground. Those findings have already been cited in conservation planning.
Marine protected areas are not just about biodiversity. Studies show they improve climate resilience, safeguard cultural heritage, support marine tourism, and even strengthen commercial fisheries through a “spillover effect” as protected species repopulate nearby waters.
By combining Haida stewardship with cutting-edge ocean science, NEPDEP is providing evidence to back decisions about how Haida Gwaii’s offshore is managed. For Haida leaders, the principle is clear: yahguudang, deep respect, must guide both the knowledge gathered beneath the waves and the governance applied above them.
As the Canpac Valour continues its dives this week, those connections are on full display, a partnership of Indigenous governance and science, working together to protect one of the most extraordinary stretches of ocean on the planet.
