Nova Scotia is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term algae encompasses many types of aquatic photosynthetic organisms, both macroscopic multicellular organisms like seaweed and microscopic unicellular organisms like cyanobacteria. Algal bloom commonly refers to the rapid growth of microscopic unicellular algae, not macroscopic algae. An example of a macroscopic algal bloom is a kelp forest.
Dartmouth is a built-up community of Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has 72,139 residents as of 2021.
Microcystins—or cyanoginosins—are a class of toxins produced by certain freshwater cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae. Over 250 different microcystins have been discovered so far, of which microcystin-LR is the most common. Chemically they are cyclic heptapeptides produced through nonribosomal peptide synthases.
Cape Breton Regional Municipality is the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's second largest municipality and the economic heart of Cape Breton Island. As of 2016 the municipality has a population of 94,285. The municipality was created in 1995 through the amalgamation of eight municipalities located in Cape Breton County.
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. Halifax is one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, and as of 2022, it is estimated that the CMA population of Halifax was 480,582, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996: Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and Halifax County.
Enfield is an urban community located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Halifax Stanfield International Airport in the Shubenacadie Valley on the border of Hants and Halifax counties in Nova Scotia, Canada. Specifically, Enfield exists in both the East Hants Municipal District and Halifax and is divided by the Shubenacadie River.
Halifax Regional Council is the governing body of Halifax, known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax is governed by a mayor-council system, where councillors are elected from sixteen geographic districts though a first-past-the-post system and the mayor is elected via a municipality-wide first-past-the-post vote. Halifax Regional Council was formed in 1996 and consisted of twenty-three councillors and one mayor. It was reduced in size to sixteen councillors and the mayor in 2012. The council meets at Halifax City Hall.
Fall River is a suburban community located in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Halifax Regional Municipality. It is located north-northeast of the Bedford Basin, northeast of Bedford and Lower Sackville and north of Waverley.
The Shubenacadie Canal is a canal in central Nova Scotia, Canada. It links Halifax Harbour with the Bay of Fundy by way of the Shubenacadie River and Shubenacadie Grand Lake. Begun in 1826, it was not completed until 1861 and was closed in 1871. Currently small craft use the river and lakes, but only one lock is operational. Three of the nine locks have been restored to preserve their unique fusion of British and North American construction techniques. More extensive restoration is planned.
Sullivan's Pond is an artificial lake and recreation area located in Dartmouth in Halifax Regional Municipality. It formed part of the Shubenacadie Canal.
Highway 102 is a north–south highway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that runs from Halifax to Onslow, immediately north of the town of Truro. It is the busiest highway in Atlantic Canada.
Shubenacadie is a village located in Hants County, in central Nova Scotia, Canada. As of 2021, the population was 411.
The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in Nova Scotia, Canada has a widely varied geography.
The Shubenacadie River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately 72 km from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake to its mouth at the historic seaport village of Maitland on Cobequid Bay, site of the building of the William D. Lawrence, the largest wooden ship ever built in Canada. In 2009, the I Backpack Canada blog named the Shubenacadie one of the top five whitewater rivers in Canada. The lower 30 km of the river is tidal and the river experiences a tidal bore twice daily, with some bores reaching up to 3 m in height at certain points along the river. Local tourism operators offer adventure seekers a chance to ride with the bore on high-horse power Zodiac Hurricanes. Tidal Bore Rafting was invented at the Tidal Bore Rafting Resort by H. Knoll. It is also a popular surfing spot for experienced Sea Kayakers.
A harmful algal bloom (HAB), or excessive algae growth, is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes defined as only those algal blooms that produce toxins, and sometimes as any algal bloom that can result in severely lower oxygen levels in natural waters, killing organisms in marine or fresh waters. Blooms can last from a few days to many months. After the bloom dies, the microbes that decompose the dead algae use up more of the oxygen, generating a "dead zone" which can cause fish die-offs. When these zones cover a large area for an extended period of time, neither fish nor plants are able to survive. Harmful algal blooms in marine environments are often called "red tides".
Lake Charles is a small lake in Nova Scotia’s Halifax Regional Municipality between the communities of Dartmouth and Waverley. It is situated between Port Wallace in the south and Nova Scotia Highway 107 in the North, Nova Scotia Highway 118 in the west and Nova Scotia Route 318 to the east. It is the summit of the Shubenacadie Canal, where the level of the surface is 31 m above sea level. Located in the Shubenacadie watershed, it ultimately feeds into the Bay of Fundy. However, it also feeds into Halifax Harbour through the canal locks at Shubie Park.
Water pollution in Canada is generally local and regional in water-rich Canada, and most Canadians have "access to sufficient, affordable, and safe drinking water and adequate sanitation." Water pollution in Canada is caused by municipal sewage, urban runoff, industrial pollution and industrial waste, agricultural pollution, inadequate water infrastructure. This is a long-term threat in Canada due to "population growth, economic development, climate change, and scarce fresh water supplies in certain parts of the country."
Susanna Wood is a New Zealand scientist whose research focuses on understanding, protecting and restoring New Zealand's freshwater environments. One of her particular areas of expertise is the ecology, toxin production, and impacts of toxic freshwater cyanobacteria in lakes and rivers. Wood is active in advocating for the incorporation of DNA-based tools such as metabarcoding, genomics and metagenomics for characterising and understanding aquatic ecosystems and investigating the climate and anthropogenic drivers of water quality change in New Zealand lakes. She has consulted for government departments and regional authorities and co-leads a nationwide programme Lakes380 that aims to obtain an overview of the health of New Zealand's lakes using paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Wood is a senior scientist at the Cawthron Institute. She has represented New Zealand in cycling.
