The Feb. 1, 2019 journal “Science” contained very disturbing pertinent findings regarding our fisheries and whales. In 2017, 100 million Pacific cod “suddenly vanished” in waters off SE Alaska. NOAA research trawlers “indicated that cod numbers had plunged by 70% in two years erasing a fishery worth $100 million annually.” In 2015, “just 166 humpback whales returned to Alaska’s Glacier Bay … a 30% drop from 2013 … all the humpback calves disappeared and are presumed dead.” In 2018, “just 99 humpback whales returned to Glacier Bay … with only one new calf in tow.” The culprit: a global warming-induced “marine heat wave,” dubbed “The Blob,” stretching 4 million km2 (size of the EU) where “water temperatures reached 2.5 degrees C above normal.” Additional casualties: “blooms of toxic algae,” “sea creatures typically found closer to the tropics,” “small fish and crustaceans hunted by larger animals” like “capelin and sand lance, staples for many bird species, nearly vanished,” “tens of thousands of sea birds littered beaches,” copepod “phytoplankton blooms shrank,” “krill … vanished from biologists nests.” By 2015, “populations of most key forage fish in the Gulf fell to less than 50% … over the previous nine years.
“The Blob” has dissipated, but its sequel will return “41 times more frequent(ly) by the end of the century.” “Calm, warm weather … has spawned a new patch of unusually warm water … eerily like the baby Blob.” Noticing this, NOAA marine biologist Steve Barbeaux despaired, “Oh, crap.”
Indeed!
Drew Degen