AUTUMN EQUINOX EDITION
September 2020

Autumn is a magical time in the Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere because of the beautifully coloured landscapes.  The autumnal equinox at 10:30 a.m. on September 22 starts the fall season. The word “equinox” is derived from Latin aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, “night.” Day and night are close to equal length. After the autumnal equinox, the sun appears to rise later. This ends with the December solstice.
(https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-fall-autumnal-equinox)

Looking skyward
During this quarter we saw a full moon on September 1. October will start with the Harvest full moon and end with the full Blue moon on Halloween. The last full moon before the winter solstice will be seen on November 30.
Mars will be on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun so should be bright and visible this October. For most of the month, Mars will be even brighter than Jupiter. This will peak on October 13.
If you are looking for a meteor shower during this quarter, you should check out the Geminids, peaking on the night of December 13.  Viewing conditions should be good because this peak is close to the time of the new moon and dark skies. These meteors get their name from their origin, in the Gemini constellation. Look for slow-moving, bright streaks of white light.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ten-biggest-celestial-events-night-sky-2020-180973956/

September is 'Mate Calling Time' - Wikumkewiku’s
Moose are long-time inhabitants of the Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere and have always been the valued relations of the Biosphere’s first peoples, the Mi’kmaq. September is the best time of the year if you are a moose. It marks the beginning of the exciting mating, or rutting season. In Mi’kmaw culture the September moon is called Wikumkewiku’s, or mate-calling time.
 

As autumn (toqa’q) progresses, the days are becoming shorter, the leaves more colourful and many animals are getting fatter as summer fades and autumn tightens its’ hold on the Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere. In the Mi’kmaw calendar October is Wikewiku’s, or animal fattening month. This is a ‘time of plenty’ in terms of food supplies for many animals but that situation will change dramatically as the ground freezes and is then covered with a white blanket of snow. The fat that is accumulated at this time of year will sustain the animals that hibernate all winter.
 

November (Keptewiku’s) in the Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere is  ‘Rivers starting to freeze time’‘ (Keptekiwiku’s).  At this time of year, thin ‘shell ice’ often starts to form overnight in quiet freshwater bodies, disappearing when the sun’s rays warm it later in the afternoon.. This is a signal to some of the Biosphere residents that it is time to find a spot to hibernate, although the more planful have already picked their spots and made themselves comfortable.
 

The Bras d’Or Lake offers an attractive reprieve from summer heat for Cape Bretoners. Many of us jump in for a swim without a second thought! We know it will be warm, sometimes feeling like bath water. Yet this is not always the case. In fact, you might be downright shocked after first dipping your toes at some lakeside beaches.
The Bras d’Or generally remains comfortably warm in summer, especially after extended periods of heat. However, changes in the weather can render a few temporary exceptions to that rule. Areas of West Bay (Marshes) and East Bay (Ben Eoin) are susceptible to sudden drops in lake temperature from time to time. This occurs when a shift in wind direction pushes water away from shore. What replaces it? Much colder water from beneath, drawn upward to the surface. Known as upwelling, these events can be sudden and extreme enough to kill fish and reptiles in some cases. In West Bay, it can be observed after bouts of strong westerlies. In Ben Eoin, the effect is far more drastic and caused by easterly winds, often brought by low pressure systems. Iona can be impacted as well in strong southwesterlies, albeit much less noticeably than Ben Eoin or West Bay.

However, the water was not able to fully recover as the upwelling and high winds caused the entire lake to mix with cooler water from below. So, even when warmer water returned, it was “only” around 20C. Interestingly, the sharp temperature drop at Ben Eoin on August 15^th was followed by a slight increase in lake temperature at other water temperature stations on the Bras d’Or. Strong easterlies pushed this warm water to the opposite side of the lake. Baddeck, Iona and West Bay Marshes all experienced a slight temperature increase before eventually cooling days later.
For West Bay Marshes, a less extreme upwelling event occurred in the final week of August. Here we see the coldest water on the southwest side of the lake, while Ben Eoin has made a near-full recovery.

Again, strong winds served as a mixing event for the entire lake, eventually causing a drop at all water temperature stations before stabilizing in the first week of September when fair weather returned. The graph below shows average daily lake surface temperature, spanning June 10^th to September 7^th. Additionally, two other stations are included for ocean temperature reference (Englishtown and Gabarus).
As we move closer to fall our beach days are numbered, sadly. For those few hot days that do remain, it would be wise to check the current water temperatures, especially if your swimming destination is near Ben Eoin!
 

The Bras d'Or Watch Field Day is a partnership between BLBRA and Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) Cape Breton and has become an annual event in the communities of Ben Eoin, Iona, St. Peter's and Whycocomagh. Volunteers from the BLBRA, ACAP, other organizations and the communities help every year. Last year we had volunteers from Cape Breton University Education Department, the national organization 'Let's Talk Science' and the Cape Breton Environmental Association. The funder for Bras d'Or Watch activities for the last few years has been the Toronto Dominion Friends of the Environment Foundation. We thank them and all the volunteers for their continuing support.

The Covid-19 pandemic did put a hold on most of the Bras d’Or Watch activities this summer however advanced planning provided some on-line opportunities for sharing citizen science and continued hands on monitoring by ACAP. Their staff and volunteers took photos at each site and many were uploaded to the Bras d’Or Watch Facebook page. Biomonitoring field sheets were filled out at each of the four sites. Sampling was done with the same methods (seine, minnow trap, underwater view er, plant inventory, shoreline evidence - such as shells and carapaces inventory, and bird tally) as ACAP has used for the past six years in order to prevent gaps in this year’s data.

As new guidelines were issued by the Nova Scotia Department of Health it became clearer to the St. Peter’s Bras d’Or Watch committee that there was still an opportunity to provide some hands on activities for their local citizens. You can read more about that below.

The St. Peter’s Bras d’Or Watch Field Day committee took on the challenge to hold a local 2020 Bras d’Or Watch Field Day while  adhering to Nova Scotia's COVID-19 guidelines. Necessary equipment and materials were sourced through CBU's Bras d'Or Institute. The St. Peter's Lion's Club Marina accommodated us again this year and worked with us to ensure our protocols meshed well with theirs. The event was successful and rewarding. We had a lighter turnout than last year but those that attended and volunteered thoroughly enjoyed themselves. A picture tells a thousand words - so without further ado…..

Several hands-on learning opportunities were supported by leaders in their field.
Thanks to all the volunteers !

The 2020 Bras d'Or Watch photo contest was extended to include photographs of most everything to be found in the biosphere among wildlife, active lifestyles and sustainable businesses. We had little uptake this year however hopefully as you travel through the Biosphere you will consider tagging any appropriate photos with the hashtag #brasdorlakebiosphere.

In order to continue to engage the public in pandemic conditions and inspire interactions between people and Bras d’Or lake ecosystems ACAP hosted a bioblitz instead of the normal public field day activities. Participants were asked to explore the Bras d’Or during the week of July 11^th-19^th and take photos of the various organisms that they found. We chose the online platform iNaturalist for the bioblitz because it is user friendly, is part of an international database, and observations are continually verified by naturalists and scientists around the world giving us research grade identifications and confirmations.

We had hoped to host videos introducing us to shoreline species in various Bras d’Or languages and were successful in finding a Gaelic speaker and French speaker to share some words with us. These videos garnered lots of attention on our social media outlets and we are so grateful to the individual that shared them with us.

ACAP wishes to thank the BLBRA for including us again in the Bras d’Or Watch program. We had fun, we learned, and we engaged many people! We are ever grateful for the opportunity to work with you and the beautiful Bras d’Or Biosphere.