ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

A “blob” of hot water killed a million seabirds in the Pacific, researchers found

Warmer water affected the food source of the seabirds

Fermin KoopbyFermin Koop
January 22, 2020
in Environment, Environmental Issues, News, Science
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Back in 2015, an estimated one million seabirds died along the west coast of North America during a marine heatwave, leaving researchers with open questions over what happened. Now, they might have figured out what went wrong.

Credit Wikipedia Commons

About 62.000 dead or dying common murres, a medium-sized seabird similar to a penguin, were found on the shore from California to Alaska – having died of starvation. Researchers estimated a death toll of one million, extrapolating from the number of birds that usually wash ashore.

This wasn’t the first time that murres were found dead, usually coinciding with extraordinary warmer temperatures, but the scope was shocking. Never before was such a massive die-off of seabirds recorded in history, according to the University of Washington, which partially funded the study published in PLOS One.

“The magnitude and scale of this failure have no precedent,” lead researcher John Piatt, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said in the statement. “It was astonishing and alarming, and a red-flag warning about the tremendous impact sustained ocean warming can have on the marine ecosystem.”

Researchers analyzed vast amounts of data, including surveys of birds from the government and rehabilitation centers, sea surface temperatures, and reports from fisheries. This helped to determine how the record heatwave led to the die-off of seabirds.

A mass of warm water, colloquially known as “the blob,” began forming in the Gulf of Alaska in 2013, the study noted. By April 2015 it was 1.300 miles wide and 328 feet deep, affecting the murres in several ways.

The warmer water of the ocean led to the fish eaten by the murres to go deeper to colder waters, altering their body conditions. At the same time, competition for food increased, as the appetite of species of predator fish that eat the same as murres increased.

“As the bottom of the ecosystem was shifting in not good ways, the top of the ecosystem was demanding a lot more food,” study co-author Julia Parrish told the LA Times. Those conditions led to “intense competition for absolutely not enough food, which is what killed them.”

Despite the die-off seen a few years back, murres are not facing extinction, researchers said. Nevertheless, it will take years for the populations affected to go back to their former numbers. The phenomenon experienced by the murres it’s anticipating what could come in a warmer world, they said.

RelatedPosts

Greenland lost 600 billion tons of ice last summer, satellite data shows
Our ignorance is much more deadly than our evil, despite what blockbuster movies show you
Just 90 companies are responsible for 60% of all man made global warming emissions – Exxon, Chevron and BP lead the way
Global warming might lock California in drought for centuries

This “demonstrates that a warmer ocean world is a very different environment and a very different coastal ecosystem for many marine species,” said Parrish in a statement. “Seabirds, as highly visible members of that system, are bellwethers of that change.”

Tags: climate changepacific oceanSeabirds

ShareTweetShare
Fermin Koop

Fermin Koop

Fermin Koop is a reporter from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He holds an MSc from Reading University (UK) on Environment and Development and is specialized in environment and climate change news.

Related Posts

Climate

Scientists Create “Bait” to Lure Baby Corals Back to Dying Reefs

byMihai Andrei
7 days ago
Science

This Tree Survives Lightning Strikes—and Uses Them to Kill Its Rivals

byTudor Tarita
1 month ago
Environment

Trump-Appointed EPA Plans to Let Most Polluters Stop Reporting CO2 Emissions

byTibi Puiu
1 month ago
Climate

Japan’s Cherry Blossoms Are Blooming Earlier Than Ever. Guess Why

byMihai Andrei
2 months ago

Recent news

This Superbug Learned How to Feed on Plastic from Hospitals

May 20, 2025

China’s Tiangong space station has some bacteria that are unknown to science

May 20, 2025

Hidden Communication Devices Found in Chinese-Made Inverters Could Put U.S. Electrical Grid at Risk

May 20, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.