“The Blob” is the name given to a phenomenon that occurred in the Pacific Ocean about ten years ago. During this time, the sea surface temperatures rose to an alarming 11 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. This was caused by a high pressure system that settled over the ocean, resulting in calm winds that prevented the usual churning of cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths to the surface. As a result, warm and stagnant water spread across the Northeast Pacific, creating a marine heat wave that lasted for three years.
Underneath the surface, the effects of this heat wave were devastating. The food web was disrupted and entire ecosystems were thrown into chaos. At first, these changes went unnoticed by humans on shore. However, soon enough, evidence of the disaster began to wash up on beaches.
The first signs were the dead bodies of Cassin’s auklets, small dark gray seabirds, that piled up on the West Coast beaches. They were soon followed by common murres, slightly larger black-and-white seabirds. The sheer number of carcasses, some knee-deep in places, was impossible to ignore.
Scientists are still trying to understand the full extent of what happened during the Blob, and they caution against drawing universal conclusions from a single regional event. However, it has fundamentally changed our understanding of how climate change can impact marine life. Even ten years later, it remains one of the most valuable sources of information on the effects of rising temperatures on ocean life. And with the recent occurrence of multiple “super-marine heat waves” and record-breaking global sea surface temperatures, it is more relevant than ever.
The Blob served as a window into the future, giving us a glimpse of what we can expect as the climate continues to warm. Julia Parrish, a marine ecologist at the University of Washington, who leads the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, a network of volunteers who monitor beaches from Northern California to Alaska, describes it as a wake-up call. To illustrate the location of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California near San Francisco, please refer to the map provided.
As we continue to gather more data and information, it is clear that marine heat waves are becoming more frequent and extreme. The Blob was just the beginning, and it is crucial that we take action to mitigate the effects of climate change on our oceans. Let us learn from this disaster and work towards a more sustainable future for our planet.