Ahoy! Take a look at the aquatic wonders of the Labrador Sea

Sharks, krill and sea sponges are just some of the aquatic animals that the Canadian Coast Guard ship Amundsen encounters on its yearly journey through the Labrador Sea. In addition to fulfilling the coast guard's regular search and rescue duties, the Amundsen also works as an icebreaker and a research vessel for scientists.

It's also the coast guard ship depicted on the Canadian $50 bill since 2012.

"Around the world, people keep an eye on what's going on in the Labrador Sea because it's so important for monitoring climate," said Dave Cote, chief scientist on the Amundsen's most recent expedition. "The currents that develop from the Labrador Sea travel all over the Atlantic."

As a result, the Amundsen is decked out with hundreds of thousands of dollars of scientific gear and cutting edge technology for researchers to unlock the secrets of the North Atlantic's depths.

"It's like one big floating lab," said Cote. "It's got so many different scientific instruments so that researchers of all disciplines can come together and work together in this place."

For shark researcher Rachel Forbes of the Marine Institute, her trip on the Amundsen was a dream come true. She studies the deepwater, slow-moving Greenland shark.

"I think they're the coolest animal in the world, mostly because they're actually the longest living vertebrate species alive," said Forbes. "They can live at least to 232 years old and then they range perhaps up to 450. It's insane."

Despite the long lifespan, much remains unknown about the Greenland shark. With help from the underwater camera team on board, Forbes uses a metal frame outfitted with multiple lasers and spotlights, along with some smelly squid bait to lure the sharks in for a close up view.

Another researcher from the Marine Institute, Eugenie Jacobsen, has her sights set on a big catch with a net called a beam trawl, which will drag underneath the ship for 10-minute periods. 

"We use it to better understand the deep sea fish. We call those demersal fish," said Jacobsen. "We always pull up some weird stuff in the net."

Barbara Neves, a researcher with Fisheries and Oceans Canada who studies cold water corals and sponges, uses cameras and a mechanical arm on a remotely operated underwater vehicle — known as an ROV — to help her view and sample ocean floor habitats.

While diving the machine into an area known as Joey's Gully, Neves finds a rare sea sponge she was looking for. The ROV retrieves the sponge and brings it to the surface. 

"No one's really looked at this sponge much yet," said Neves. The discovery of a new sponge could lead to finding new chemicals that have pharmaceutical potential.

A variety of other pieces of equipment are lowered into the ocean during the trip with a mooring line, which will be left in the ocean for a full year. In addition to taking many samples of ocean water, one of the devices is equipped with a waterproof microphone to capture whale songs. 

Shawn Meredyk, who works on mooring instrumentation with the Amundsen, will be on the ship again later this year to retrieve these devices and send the data to scientists across the country. 

"I don't think the average Canadian understands the amount of work that's needed, the amount of money that's needed, the amount of organization, logistics, just to understand how warm the water is or to understand the current," said Meredyk.

"It came from years and years and years of research and data and logistics and people all working together, sometimes in rough conditions."

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