Five years after record marine heatwave, many warm–water species still in state

by Erica Nielsen and Sam Walkes, for The Conversation October 5, 2021October 4, 2021

Southerly species like the giant owl limpet, seen here, started appearing on northern California shores. (Photo by Jerry Kirkhart/Flickr, CC BY)

LAND-BASED HEATWAVES have a less obvious though equally important sibling: marine heatwaves. In 2013, the largest marine heatwave on record began when an unusually warm mass of water formed in the Gulf of Alaska. By the next summer, the warm water spread south, raising average water temperatures along the United States west coast by 3.6 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (2-4 Celsius). In 2015, a strong El Niño event strengthened the marine heatwave further.

And so “the Blob,” as oceanographers have dubbed this huge body of warm water, was born.

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