When you hear the term 'viking', would you think of people who help with the expansion of knowledge of the ocean? I would not either, but they are important figures when it comes to the history of oceanography. Not only were the vikings intertested in trade and colonization, but they were incredible seaman. A viking know as 'Eric the Red' sailed passed Iceland and found what we know today as Greenland. His son came to North America in 1002, approximately 500 yrs before Columbus. The Vikings originally come from Scandinavia and along there journeys they invaded parts of Europe, France and the British Isles between 793-1066. This period is sometimes known as the 'Viking Age'. During their time, they founded many settlements along the coats of places like Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, etc, and they were early explores of North America. But, the vikings were also great worriors. They rampaged many colonies along their voyages. Even though they were worriors, they had a huge impact on Oceanography today. They helped find new colonies, explored some of North America and were great navigators. They biuld what we call 'Dragon Ships', which in 1880, archaeologists found a whole ship intact. They also built a ship know as the Knarr.
After hearing about the vikings slightly in a lecture i decided to do a bit more research. I learned a lot about the vikings that i did not know. What i find very interesting about all this, is when people talk about history, it is Christopher Columbus who founded North America, but in actual fact, the Vikings, in particular Leif Eriksson son of Erik the Red, was the first one to find North America after sailing west of Greenland.
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As I was reading over the local newspaper (Chronical Herald), i saw an article that said N.S was one of the top 5 hotspots for Mercury (the other four places were in New York and New England). Mercury is ending up in the lakes around the area (Including Kejimkujik national Park), and the local wildlife is consuming it. This does not only effect those animals, but it effects the rest of the foodchain. Abnormal amounts of mercury (as much as 8x greater then normal) are ending up in the fish and birds (loons) in the area. If the National Parks are being invaded with toxic chemicals, like Mercury, and harming the wildlife in the area, whats going to be left in these parks in the future? Not only do scientists need to start looking at these issues, but so does the rest of the world, including the big Corporate Businesses that are mainly responsible for toxicating the wildlife. Some of the toxins are coming from the rain, but chemicals such as Mercury can stay around in the atmosphere for several months before it exits out, and most of it is ending up in the worlds waters. Not only are these toxins harming the wildlife, but they are contaminating animals that humans will consume, which harms us as well. But do the Big Businesses think about the long term effects that chemical dumping and smoke stacks will have on our planet?
The Gully is a rich and diverse habitat that is located south of Nova Scotia, to the east of Sable Island. The Gully is very rich in marine habitats and organisms and even contains some deep-sea corals. It was formed thousands of years ago when the sea floors were much lower and is the prodect of erosion. It is a very large in area, which makes it so rich in diversity and is why it is one of Canada's most outstanding undersea features. The area is composed of sandy banks and a deep-water canyon environment. The Gully is home for both deep and shallow water fishes, whales and dolphins. 