A new study suggests that ‘the Blob’ of warmer ocean temperatures, which stretched over 3,200 kilometres off the coast of North America at its peak in 2014 and 15, may have temporarily dampened the Pacific’s ‘biological pump’ that acts as a carbon sink for fixed atmospheric carbon.
Continue reading The ‘Blob’ may have temporarily dampened the Pacific Ocean’s ‘biological pump,’ study suggestsTag Archives: Hakai Institute
Tongue of the glacier- Elliot Creek landslide, Bute Inlet
No one was in Bute Inlet’s Southgate Valley when rock and ice above Elliot Creek launched itself 6000 feet down from the Homathko Icefield into a glacial lake.
Did anyone hear, see or feel anything?
Continue reading Tongue of the glacier- Elliot Creek landslide, Bute Inlet
Deep water temperatures in BC Fjords rose 1.2–1.3°C in 70 years
Deep water temperatures in fjords along BC’s Central Coast have increased 1.2–1.3°C over the past 70 years, a recent report shows.
Continue reading Deep water temperatures in BC Fjords rose 1.2–1.3°C in 70 years
UBC researcher says there’s hope for the Sunflower Sea Star
CKTZ News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
While the many legged Sunflower Sea Star is now nearly extinct in most of the United States, there is still hope it may survive in British Columbia. Researchers have seen signs of recovery in a few areas, including the Discovery Islands, despite the threats to the marine population.
Continue reading UBC researcher says there’s hope for the Sunflower Sea Star
Fish farms underreport sea lice when not being audited, study says
“Our results suggest that sea-louse counts reported by the salmon farming industry are lower than the true abundance of parasites on their fish. When the federal government audited a sea-louse count, the industry’s mean counts for that month increased by a factor of 1.18 for L. salmonis and by 1.95 for C. clemensi.” – Sean Godwin et al, Bias in self-reported parasite data from the salmon farming industry.
Dr Sean Godwin is the lead author of eight of the fifteen scientific papers listed on his website. The bulk of these explore interactions between wild and farmed salmon. One of the most troubling, published in the journal Ecological Application, is a survey that showed fish farms underreport sea lice when they are not audited by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Continue reading Fish farms underreport sea lice when not being audited, study says