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Fjords are common geological features along our coasts which can host high habitat complexity owing to their varied topography, interaction with currents, and natural gradients in water column properties (e.g. temperature, salinity, oxygenation).  Fjords can also host deep-water species, many of which are slow growing taxa particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic influences, and whose location in coastal fjords can bring them in closer contact to human activities.

In 2021, 9 drop-camera sites were visited in Southwind fjord and 13 sites in Pangnirtung fjord as part of a CCGS Amundsen expedition. The underwater camera work was carried out in order to ground-truth the bathymetry and backscatter data previously collected for this area. The sites in Southwind fjord were characterized mainly by soft sediment and ophiuroids, while the ones in Pangnirtung fjord were mainly composed of crinoids and sponges on pebbles overlying soft sediment.  Soft corals were occasionally observed in both fjords. 

This biological data will now be combined to bathymetry and backscatter layers from multibeam sonar previously collected by the Geological Survey of Canada and ArcticNet to predict species assemblages and diversity for the full extent of these fjords.