Life beneath the waves at the Marine Environment Discovery Centre

Undersea odyssey

Unlike Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo, let’s not hold back. Say it out loud: expeditions like this aren’t just completed overnight. If it took the Nautilus nearly a year to travel 20,000 leagues under the sea, you should expect to take at least a few days to navigate through Saguenay St. Lawrence Marine Park’s surface area of 1,139 km2 (440 sq. mi.)—which is, oh, about a million cubic yards of water.

A unique environment calls for a park to match. Determined to protect the particular marine ecosystem of the confluence, the governments of Québec and Canada joined forces to create the Saguenay St. Lawrence Marine Park—an alliance that also led to the creation of the Discovery Network (see box). The latter is an extensive network that, through 15 interpretation sites, highlights the wealth of local heritage (both social and historical) and, of course, the system’s enormous biodiversity. Les Escoumins marks the network’s 15th site.

Just like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Who’s old enough to remember the adventures of the nuclear submarine Seaview and its commander, Admiral Nelson—the “admiral with a problem” (as my father called him)? In the movie, the divers underwater could communicate with personnel on board. Now, without the inconvenience of having to save the world like poor old Nelson, the divers at the Marine Environment Discovery Centre are all set to discuss their findings with you, live from the very depths of the river.

The St. Lawrence, in full living colour

Without a doubt, the star attraction of the Centre is Live from the St. Lawrence, which brings together a submerged scuba diver and an audience thirsting for knowledge. Thanks to sophisticated communications equipment worthy of a 1960s TV sci-fi show, the divers talk to visitors... live from beneath the surface of the marine park! “Visitors are part of our team; they help the diver/cameraman, who brings them the beauty and the biodiversity flourishing in the depths of the extraordinary St. Lawrence,” says Dominique Gobeil, responsible for reception and marketing at the Saguenay St. Lawrence Marine Park for Parks Canada.

Fantastic Voyage, circa 2006

There you are, nice and dry and sitting comfortably in your armchair. Thanks to real-time technology, you can sit back and enjoy the fabulous undersea world of the estuary from a new angle: live and coming at you from the giant screen. It’s the “seabed” of the St. Lawrence in all its beauty and biodiversity: a secret world indeed. Your fantastic voyage beneath the estuary waters starts here.

The descent from the surface is 300 m (nearly 1,000 ft.). An abyss! From water columns to steep cliffs, the world of this giant aquarium reinvents itself continually throughout the plunge. As the journey unfolds, visitors can spot plankton, go on photo safaris among the fish, encounter fin whales at 150 m (500 ft.), and ultimately admire the landscapes at the bottom of the estuary, the final resting place of many a shipwreck.

High and dry

Back on terra firma, holding court in the amphitheatre with the St. Lawrence as their backdrop, the naturalists discuss the history of undersea diving, various aspects of the marine environment and the research into fish populations. One begins to understand the estuary’s environmental issues and astonishing wealth of diversity. The amphitheatre is also a choice spot for observing marine mammals from the shore. The Centre highlights topics linked to the St. Lawrence estuary. An exhibition also brings visitors through a space that, largely open to the water, provides a view of the river from the shore. A 5-m (16-ft.) maquette gives the geographic perspective, showing the estuary in the context of the immense waterway, and revealing some of its basic features. Also included are the points of view of explorers, scientists, developers and vacationers over the years. The evolution of perceptions of the estuary, from prehistory to today, is made clear. So if you’re roaming the banks of the St. Lawrence from Charlevoix to Manicouagan by way of the Saguenay, stop in at Les Escoumins and Les Bergeronnes, and take time out to discover Pointe-Noire, Cap Trinité, and Cap Éternité. North, south, east or west, you’re sure to have a fantastic voyage in the waters of the Saguenay Fjord and the St. Lawrence estuary.

André Quenneville
2008-04-07