For 30 years, the teams at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute have been working with other science teams here and around the world to share knowledge and to take advantage of what is done elsewhere. These exchanges improve our research and monitoring programs, and give us an accurate idea of trends in the environment and in biodiversity around the world.

During the summer of 2017, a dozen North Atlantic right whale carcasses were found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, mainly between the Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands. Usually, two to four dead individuals are found in this population each year across its range.

After ending his visit prematurely in April due to adverse weather, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc returned to Quebec on June 9, 2017. The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard was thus able to keep his promise and complete his Quebec tour.

In the Magdalen Islands, it is well known that the lobster fishing industry is of great importance to the area's economy. The resource, although plentiful, is scrupulously monitored by the Conservation and Protection Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Perhaps less well known is the annual migration of the Islands lobster between the more remote reefs and the coasts of the archipelago, bringing with them the fishers in pursuit of them.

It's early June. The Maritime Marine Animal Response Network and the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network receive reports of a young Beluga whale in the Népisiguit River, near the city of Bathurst, New Brunswick. The Department's teams are quickly contacted to assess the situation and to determine the various actions to be taken.

I climbed aboard the Polar Prince, the ship used for the Canada C3 project, on June 19 in Baie-Comeau. It was the third stage of the expedition. It started on June 1^st in Toronto with the aim of reaching Victoria via the Northwest Passage and crossing the country's three oceans. All in 150 days!

Since summer 2016, with help from the Government of Canada's Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk, the Micmacs of Gespeg and Gesgapegiag have been surveying the southern shore of the Gaspé Peninsula in search of young Striped bass. They are trying to find a second spawning ground in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. In this area, the only spawning ground known to sustain the species is the one in the Miramichi River, in New Brunswick.

Canada has the longest coastlines in the world and water is one of its most valuable resources. To ensure the sustainability of these resources for all Canadians, on November 7, 2016, the Prime Minister introduced the Oceans Protection Plan with a budget of $1.5 billion over five years.

Did you know that Nunavik is home to the only population of Harbour Seals in the world presently known to live exclusively in fresh water? A Harbour Seal subspecies, the Lacs des Loups Marins population is found in a chain of lakes in Nunavik located about 250 km east of Hudson's Bay. It is estimated that this subspecies was isolated from its original marine habitat by the most recent glaciations, between 3,000 and 8,000 years ago.

With over 70 laboratories, including a cutting-edge wet lab, the Maurice Lamontagne Institute (MLI) is celebrating its 30^th birthday this year. Over the last three decades at the MLI, versatile, skilled and experienced teams have been performing research on a wide range of marine species and aquatic ecosystems.