Sample collections were made aboard the CCGS Amundsen during the ArcticNet field campaigns in August 2013 (Leg 1), July, August and October 2014 (Leg 1 & 3) and October 2015 (Leg 4). Sediment samples retrieved from box cores were sliced into 0.5 cm increments and frozen separately, while benthic invertebrates were collected using a benthic trawl. Individual species including Gorgoncephelus arcticus, Psilaster andromeda, Ophiopleura borealis and Ctenodiscus crispatus were identified, sorted, packed and stored at -30C and shipped to Winnipeg. At the University of Manitoba samples were freeze-dried and homogenized. Samples were then extracted and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes using a LECO Pegasus gas chromatographer with a high resolution time of flight mass spectrometer (GC-HR TOFMS). Supplementary data was also generated, including stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and carbon, as well as lipid (inverts) and total organic carbon (sediment) to calculate biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs). Statistical analysis is currently ongoing.

The iBO project has supported the deployment of four moorings at key locations identified during the previous northern and southern Beaufort Sea monitoring initiatives (see CCIN 11925 ArcticNet-Industry 2009-2011 moorings and CCIN 11975 BREA 2011-2015 moorings). Since fall 2015, BRG and BR1 from BREA were redeployed along with two new moorings BRK and BR3. For every year of deployment, each mooring line was equipped with various oceanographic instruments attached at different depths from approximately 150 m to 750 m. Moored instruments include conductivity-temperature sensors, ice profiling sonars, particle analyzers, current meters, current profilers, and sediment traps. Datasets include currents, ice draft and velocities, water levels, temperature, salinity and turbidity, chlorophyll, suspended particulate size and concentration, and vertical carbon flux. Data collected were quality assessed/quality controlled (QA/QC) following the Climate and Forecast (CF http://cfconventions.org/) conventions, and building upon the open-source Integrated Marine Observatory System (IMOS) toolbox developed for Matlab© by the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN). The four moorings provided ready to use quality data for the period 2015-2017. BR1 provided an extra year of data for 2017-2018, whereas BR3, BRG, and BRK are still at sea and being recovered (Fall 2019). The program ended officially in 2018; however, Amundsen Science and its collaborators maintain the observatory and monitoring capacity in the region with one mooring BRG pending new funding and interests for the program.

ArcticNet and IMG-Golder established southern and eastern Beaufort Sea Marine Observatories in 2011. The first pair of moorings (BRA and BRB) is in the southern Beaufort Sea, roughly 100 nautical miles northwest of Tuktoyaktuk. These deployments aimed at maintaining the existing ArcticNet time series initiated in 2009 in collaboration with Imperial Oil and BP. The second observatory, also deployed in 2011, consisted of two moorings (BR1 and BR2) north of the Mackenzie Trough at the western limit of the Beaufort Sea. Another pair of moorings BRG and BRK, launched in 2012 and 2014, are located off the northwest coast of Banks Island, starting a time series in the northeastern Beaufort Sea where year-round measurements have never been obtained before. Finally, two new moorings (BR3 and BR4) were also deployed at the end of the program in 2014 near BR2 and BRG respectively. For every year of deployment, each mooring line was equipped with various oceanographic instruments attached at different depths from approximately 150 m to 750 m. Moored instruments included conductivity-temperature sensors, ice profiling sonars, particle analyzers, current meters, current profilers, and sediment traps. Datasets include currents, ice draft and velocities, water levels, temperature, salinity and turbidity, chlorophyll, suspended particulate size and concentration, and vertical carbon flux; See CCIN10476 for Vertical flux data on Phyto and Zooplankton as well as on chemical parameters such as POC. Data are quality assessed/quality controlled (QA/QC) following the Climate and Forecast (CF http://cfconventions.org/) conventions and building upon the open-source Integrated Marine Observatory System (IMOS) toolbox developed for Matlab© by the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN). The five moorings provided ready to use quality data for the period 2011-2015. BRG and BR1 time series were extended along with two moorings BR3 and BRK until 2018 during the iBO project (CCIN 13107).