Taking a close look at sand lance in the St. Lawrence estuary

We started a new collaboration with Parks Canada (Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park) to study the trophic food web of larval sand lance, a small pelagic fish that plays a crucial role in the ecosystem by transferring the energy from zooplankton to large predators including marine mammals. Sand lance is the main prey of the endangered beluga population.

The UQAR-ISMER and Parks Canada science team carried out sand lance sampling onboard RV L'Alliance, a state-of-the-art coastal research vessel based at the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park.