A large study conducted with sensors on elephant seals has revealed a wealth of valuable new information that has helped us better understand the factors contributing to the "Blob," a major marine heatwave that occurred in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America.
In recent years, the science community has been talking about the "blob," a unicellular organism that resembles a slime mold but has an incredible capacity for learning.
But the word "blob" also refers to another equally impressive scientific phenomenon: the heatwave observed in the North Pacific Ocean between 2013 and 2015, which had dramatic consequences on the fauna that populates these ocean areas.
"In the summer of 2015, two years into The Blob, just 166 humpback whales returned to Alaska's Glacier Bay from their winter calving grounds near Hawaii and Mexico, a 30% drop from 2013. All the humpback calves seen in Glacier Bay that year disappeared later and are presumed dead.
And the bodies of 28 humpback and 17 finback whales washed up on beaches in Alaska and British Columbia in Canada," outlined an article published in Science in January 2019.
A marine heatwave refers to an abnormal and prolonged warming of waters. The "Blob" of 2013-2015 represents the longest and most intense recorded to date.
To better understand the causes of this unusual climatic event, a team of American researchers from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) used elephant seals to explore the seabed oceanographic phenomena in this area.
Published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, the study tagged the northern elephant seals with animal-borne ocean sensors recording water depth, temperature and salinity to track the migrations of elephant seals over nearly 10,000 km across the Pacific.
This underwater species of the seal family was not chosen at random: it is capable of diving to a depth of more than a thousand meters!
"The elephant seals collect data in different locations than existing oceanographic platforms," explains senior author Christopher Edwards, a professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz," in a release from the university.
Increasingly frequent marine heatwaves
Data collected during the Blob from sensors that the elephant seals were tagged with revealed that the abnormally warm temperatures extended 1,000 meters below the surface.
The subsurface warming persisted in 2017, long after surface temperatures returned to normal, the study notes.
According to the researchers, these temperature anomalies are so deep that it is unlikely that they are due to mixing from the surface.
One hypothesis is that the unusually warm waters were transported northward from the south. Indeed, changes at the surface may have transiently altered the deeper currents to draw waters from the south to the north.
This climatic phenomenon is all the more worrying as marine heatwaves are likely to become more and more frequent as the planet warms, the authors of the research warn.
"Just like with terrestrial heatwaves, we have seen over the last decade a dramatic increase in the frequency and magnitude of marine heatwaves.
The more information we can collect the better off we'll be in terms of understanding what's happening and facing the challenges," concluded first author and research biologist Rachel Holser.
ETX Studio
Sun Aug 07 2022
A large study using sensors on elephant seals has revealed a wealth of valuable new information about the "Blob." - ETX Studio
Wanita maut, dua lelaki parah kereta langgar pokok
Seorang wanita maut, manakala dua lelaki cedera parah selepas kereta dinaiki mereka terbabas sebelum melanggar sebatang pokok di tepi jalan dalam kemalangan di Jalan Macalister awal hari ini.
Israel perlu waspada jika negara Asia Barat masuk campur
Israel seharusnya mengambil pengajaran daripada konflik dengan Iran supaya tindak bertindak sewenang-wenangnya mencabuli hak rakyat Islam, terutamanya Palestin.
AWANI Ringkas: PM: Isu PKR Sabah akan diselesaikan segera
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
DNB nafi dakwaan tidak telus dalam menjalankan operasi dalaman
Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) dengan tegas menafikan dakwaan bertindak tidak telus dalam menjalankan operasi dalaman serta menolak sebarang gambaran negatif terhadap amalan tadbir urus dan perolehannya.
Adakah ia akan mencetuskan perang lebih besar & dahsyat di Asia Barat?
Prof. Dr. Mizan Mohammad Aslam, Jabatan Hubungan Antarabangsa, Keselamatan dan Undang-Undang
KPN Razarudin ucap takziah pemergian Tun Hanif Omar
Ketua Polis Negara (KPN), Tan Sri Razarudin Husain bersama timbalannya Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay dan seluruh warga Polis Diraja Malaysia menzahirkan ucapan takziah buat ahli keluarga bekas KPN, Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar yang meninggal dunia akibat sakit buah pinggang pada awal pagi Sabtu.
Keperibadian Tun Hanif tegas ketika melakasanakan tugas
Ketegasan dalam melaksanakan tugasan.
Itu merupakan salah satu keperibadian bekas Ketua Polis Negara (KPN) Allahyarham Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar sepanjang melakar perkhidmatannya di dalam kontinjen Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM).
Perkara itu dikongsikan sahabat rapat Allahyarham, Tokoh Pentadbiran , Tan Sri Mohd Annuar Zaini.
Itu merupakan salah satu keperibadian bekas Ketua Polis Negara (KPN) Allahyarham Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar sepanjang melakar perkhidmatannya di dalam kontinjen Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM).
Perkara itu dikongsikan sahabat rapat Allahyarham, Tokoh Pentadbiran , Tan Sri Mohd Annuar Zaini.
Perjalanan terakhir Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar di Masjid Negara
Faida Rahim, Wartawan Astro AWANI
Tun Hanif Omar Ketua Polis Negara terlama dan termuda
Bekas Ketua Polis Negara (KPN) Allahyarham Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar melakar sejarah dalam perkhidmatan Sang Saka Biru.
sebagai individu paling muda dan lama menerajui tampuk kepimpinan pasukan keselamatan negara.
sebagai individu paling muda dan lama menerajui tampuk kepimpinan pasukan keselamatan negara.
Komuniti di Sarawak digalakkan mohon tubuh PAWE - Nancy
Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri berkata buat masa ini, Sarawak hanya mempunyai 13 PAWE dan jumlah itu tidak mencukupi bagi sebuah negeri yang besar.
Organisma 'misteri' ada 720 jantina
Taman Zoologi di Paris semalam mempamerkan organisma misteri baharu digelar 'blob' yang kelihatan seperti kulat tetapi mempunyai sifat seperti haiwan.