With the Pacific region hitting record-setting temperatures in the last few weeks, a new study from Canada shows the heat waves’ enormous impact on marine life: an estimated 1 billion sea creatures on the coast of Vancouver have died as a result of the heat, a researcher says.
But that number is likely to be much higher, professor Christopher Harley from the University of British Columbia says.
“I’ve been working in the Pacific Northwest for most of the past 25 years and I have not seen anything like this here,” he said. “This is far more extensive than anything I’ve ever seen.”
Harley reaches his estimates by counting the number of sea creatures, mostly mussels, in a section that he says is representative of an entire beach. He varies measuring some beaches that are rocky and some that are not to get a full estimate for the entire ecosystem.”
This is a preliminary estimate based on good data, but I’m honestly worried that it’s a substantial underestimate,” Harley told NPR from a beach in British Columbia, where he continues to survey the casualties from the most recent heat wave.
Source: Heat Wave Kills 1 Billion Sea Creatures Off Canada’s West Coast : NPR