A mock wake for Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area—set to be terminated next March as part of federal budget cuts—was held at the University of Manitoba Tuesday to protest the move.

“Today, we mourn the Experimental Lakes, but moreover, we morn the blindfold of ignorance imposed upon our once-great country,” said John Shearer, a retired senior biologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans who worked at the area for 35-years. “The best scientists in the world flocked to these Canadian lakes to ask questions that could not be asked elsewhere.”

Located in Ontario, the ELA has provided advice to policy-makers and industry on such issues as: harmful algal blooms, acid rain, the impact of hormones in sewage effluent on fish health, evidence that flame retardants degrade into banned toxic chemicals, and measures to lower mercury contamination in fish.

The protest attracted roughly a dozen mourners dressed in black, and was held in tandem with the Death of Evidence Rally held in Ottawa.

For more information go to saveela.org.