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In this article, we consider the role of ocean literacy in coastal communities as an approach that fosters relevant, community-based learning. We also propose solutions to challenges facing human-ocean relationships by cultivating common understanding and collective action. We present four examples of community-based ocean literacy in Mi'kma'ki/Atlantic Canada demonstrate how intersectional approaches to ocean literacy that are context-specific and responsive to community priorities can foster healthier human-ocean relationships: (1) Oceans Week Halifax's organization of community events to strengthen human-ocean relationships; (2) the Apoqnmatulti'k (Mi'kmaw: we help each other) project's partnerships between Mi'kmaq and local knowledge holders and academia; (3) Fishing For Success's (Newfoundland and Labrador) inclusive approaches to connecting marginalized communities to the ocean; and (4) the Co-Existing With North Atlantic Right Whale Project's protection of whales without jeopardizing coastal community livelihoods. Without denying there are barriers to bridging community learning with formal education, we focus on opportunities for collaborations and the importance of ocean optimism in guiding these urgently needed efforts to benefit future community-based, ocean-focused, and solutions-orientated initiatives.

Aquatic animals are integral to ocean and freshwater ecosystems and their resilience, are depended upon globally for food sustainability, and support coastal communities and Indigenous peoples. However, global aquatic environments are changing profoundly due to anthropogenic actions and environmental change. These changes are altering distributions, movements, and survival of aquatic animals in ways that are not well understood. The Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) is a global partnership that is filling this knowledge gap. OTN Canada, a pan-Canadian (and beyond) research network, was launched in 2010 with visionary funding by the Canadian government. In our introduction to this special issue, we briefly overview how this interdisciplinary network has used state-of-the-art technologies, infrastructure, electronic tags and sensors, and associated cutting-edge research and training programs to better understand changing marine and freshwater dynamics and their impact on ecosystems, resources, and animal ecology. These studies have provided unprecedented insights into animal ecology and resource management at a range of spatial and temporal scales and by interfacing animal movements with novel measures of environment, physiology, disease, genetics-genomics, and anthropogenic stressors. Les animaux aquatiques sont des elements essentiels des ecosystemes oceaniques et d'eau douce et de la resilience de ces systemes, ils assurent la perennite de la disponibilite de nourriture a l'echelle planetaire et supportent des collectivites cotieres et des peuples autochtones. Les milieux aquatiques planetaires font toutefois l'objet de modifications profondes causees par l'activite humaine et des changements environnementaux. L'incidence de ces modifications sur la repartition, les deplacements et la survie des animaux aquatiques n'est pas bien comprise. L'Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) est un partenariat international qui vise a combler ces lacunes dans les connaissances. OTN Canada, un reseau de recherche pancanadien (et au-dela) a ete lance en 2010 grace au financement visionnaire du gouvernement du Canada. Dans notre introduction au present numero special virtuel, nous presentons un bref survol de l'emploi fait par ce reseau interdisciplinaire des plus recentes technologies, infrastructures, des etiquettes et capteurs electroniques et de la recherche et des programmes de formation de pointe associes pour mieux comprendre la dynamique changeante des milieux marins et d'eau douce et son incidence sur les ecosystemes, les ressources et l'ecologie animale. Ces etudes jettent un eclairage sans precedent sur l'ecologie animale et la gestion des ressources a differentes echelles spatiales et temporelles, en reliant les deplacements d'animaux a de nouvelles mesures du milieu, de la physiologie, des maladies, de la genetique-genomique et de facteurs de stress d'origine humaine., Introduction Aquatic animals help meet global food needs, annually contribute billions of dollars in socioeconomic benefits and ecosystem services to society, support coastal communities, and are culturally important, particularly for [...]

Determining the diets of threatened Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri (Brandt, 1847)) in relation to life-history stages will provide information to help identify and characterize their critical habitats. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis(QFASA) is a novel tool that estimates the proportion of diet items in consumers from their fat depots. We conducted feeding experiments to validate the use of QFASA to estimate the mixed diets of captive female Spectacled Eiders using egg yolk fatty acids (FA) collected in 2008 and 2009. Calibration coefficients (CCs) for individual FA were developed to account for FA modification (due to eider lipid metabolism) from diets of eiders into egg yolk. We also compared the FA profiles between fertile and infertile eggs. Egg yolk FA profiles did not differ significantly between infertile and fertile eggs collected in either year. Using the CCs developed from eggs collected in 2008, QFASA closely estimated the 2009 diet composition of eiders. We conclude that using infertile eggs has the potential to provide a noninvasive method to elucidate diets of breeding female Spectacled Eiders and possibly other avian species, and to provide insight into understanding the sources (i.e., marine wintering or fresh waterbreeding habitat)and timing (i.e., prebreeding or breeding) of nutrient acquisition during reproduction. Key words: fatty acid, QFASA, diet estimation, foraging ecology, egg yolk, Spectacled Eider, Somateria fischeri. Resume : La determination du regime alimentaire des eiders a lunettes (Somateria fischeri (Brandt, 1847)), une espece menacee, selon l'etape du cycle de vie fournira de l'information qui aidera a cerner et caracteriser leurs habitats essentiels. L'analyse quantitative de la signature des acides gras (QFASA) est un nouvel outil pour estimer la proportion des differents composants du regime alimentaire chez les consommateurs a la lumiere de leurs depots de graisse. Nous avons mene des experiences d'alimentation dans le but de valider la pertinence d'utiliser la QFASA pour estimer les regimes mixtes d'eiders a lunettes femelles en captivite en utilisant des acides gras (AG) de jaunes d'oeufs preleves en 2008 et 2009. Des coefficients d'etalonnage (CE) pour les differents AG ont ete etablis pour rendre compte de la modification des AG (en raison du metabolisme des lipides des eiders) durant le processus allant de l'alimentation des eiders a la formation des jaunes d'oeufs. Nous avons egalement compare les profils d'AG d'oeufs fecondes et non fecondes. Les profils d'AG de jaunes d'oeufs fecondes et non fecondes preleves durant l'une ou l'autre des annees n'etaient pas significativement differents. En integrant les CE etablis pour les oeufs preleves en 2008, la QFASA estimait avec exactitude la composition du regime des eiders en 2009. Nous en concluons que l'utilisation d'aeufs non fecondes pourrait constituer une methode non invasive permettant de faire la lumiere sur les regimes alimentaires de femelles reproductrices d'eider a lunettes et possiblement d'autres especes d'oiseaux, et fournit de l'information pour la comprehension des sources (c.-a-d. habitat d'hivernage en mer ou de reproduction en milieu d'eau douce) et du moment (c.-a-d. avant ou durant l'accouplement) de l'acquisition de nutriments durant la reproduction. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : acide gras, QFASA, estimation du regime alimentaire, ecologie de l'alimentation, jaune d'oeuf, eider a lunettes, Somateria fischeri., Introduction The Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri (Brandt, 1847)) was listed as threatened under the provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act in the 1990s (Federal Register 1993). Changes in the [...]

Optimal diving theory predicts that animals make decisions that maximize their foraging profitability subject to the constraint of oxygen stores. We examined the temporal pattern of prey encounters within a dive from concurrently collected dive data and animal-borne video from a free-ranging pinniped to test predictions of optimal diving theory. CRITTERCAMS were deployed on 32 adult male harbour seals (Phoca vitulina concolor De Kay, 1842) at Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, for 3 days each. Deployments resulted in approximately 3 h of video per seal and a total of 2275 capture attempts for 1474 prey encounter events recorded. We found support for seven of the nine selected predictions of optimal diving theory. As predicted, prey encounters increased with bottom duration; dive duration increased with dive depth; and travel duration, bottom duration, and percent bottom duration decreased over a wide range of travel durations. Descent duration did increase with dive depth, and seals terminated dives earlier when no prey were encountered and when prey were encountered later in a dive. Contrary to prediction, bottom duration did not increase and then decrease for short travel durations and dives were not terminated earlier when travel durations were short and prey encounter rate was low. Key words: optimal diving theory, optimal foraging theory, harbour seal, Phoca vitulina concolor, animal-borne camera, Crittercam. La theorie de la plongee optimale predit que les animaux prennent des decisions qui maximisent la profitabilite de l'activite d'alimentation au vu de leurs reserves d'oxygene. Nous avons examine la distribution temporelle des rencontres de proie durant une plongee a partir de donnees de plongee et de videos prises par des cameras montees sur des animaux recueillies simultanement afin de verifier les predictions de la theorie de la plongee optimale pour un pinnipede en liberte. Des cameras Crittercam ont ete deployees pendant 3 jours sur 32 phoques communs (Phoca vitulina concolor De Kay, 1842) males adultes a Tile de Sable (Nouvelle-Ecosse, Canada). Ces deploiements ont produit environ 3 h de video par phoque et un total de 2275 tentatives de capture pour 1474 evenements de rencontre de proie enregistres. Les donnees recueillies appuient sept des neuf predictions selectionnees de la theorie de la plongee optimale. Comme prevu, le nombre de rencontres de proie augmentait de pair avec la duree au fond; la duree de la plongee augmentait de pair avec la profondeur de la plongee; et la duree de deplacement, la duree au fond et le pourcentage de cette derniere diminuaient pour une grande fourchette de durees de deplacement. La duree de la descente augmentait avec la profondeur de la plongee, et les phoques terminaient leurs plongees plus tot quand ils ne rencontraient aucune proie ou quand ces rencontres avaient lieu plus tardivement durant la plongee. Contrairement aux predictions, la duree au fond n'augmentait pas pour ensuite diminuer pour de courtes durees de deplacement et les plongees ne se terminaient pas plus tot pour de courtes durees de deplacement et de faibles frequences de rencontres de proie. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : theorie de la plongee optimale, theorie de l'alimentation optimale, phoque commun, Phoca vitulina concolor, camera montee sur l'animal, Crittercam., Introduction Animals are expected to balance the benefits and costs of foraging decisions to maximize their probability of survival and reproductive success. Foraging theory aims to predict how foragers should [...]