Warm Waters Caused Many Sea Creatures to Move Far North

A study has found that warmer waters off North America’s West Coast caused many kinds of sea life to move farther north than ever before. The study was a project of scientists from the University of California, Davis.

    1     They identified a total of 67 species between 2014   and 2016,   during what was described   as a “marine heatwave”. The researchers reported that 37 of the 67 species they studied had never before been observed so far north as California. These creatures are native to an area hundreds of kilometers to the south.

Some species were discovered outside a marine laboratory belonging to the University of California, Davis. A few were even found north of California.    2     The scientists involved in the study believe the findings can provide valuable information for predicting future sea life reactions to warming oceans.

There is also evidence suggesting that warming waters in the Atlantic Ocean have caused some sea creatures to move northward. A 2017 report in Yale University’s online magazine Environment 360 explores this subject. The report   notes   that   for   many   years,   the   ocean   has   served   as   our   best   defense   against   climate   change.    3     This has led to warmer oceans, with experts predicting continuing rising temperatures.

Warmer waters along the U.S. East Coast have affected a black sea fish. Researchers from Rutgers University reported the fish once was mainly found off the coast of North Carolina. But they discovered the species had traveled more than 700 kilometers northward, to waters off the coast of New Jersey.

    4     Using   climate models,   researchers predicted   that   some species along   the U.S.   and Canadian   Pacific coasts will move as far as 1,400 kilometers north from their current habitats. Such movement is expected to cause major difficulties for fisheries both in the U.S. and Canada, the study found.