NPS/Jim Pfeiffenberger
Marine heatwaves are prolonged periods of time when ocean water temperatures are much warmer than normal. They occur all around the globe. A marine heatwave in the north Pacific Ocean began in August 2014 and lasted through July 2016 that was the largest heatwave in more than 150 years.
We're still learning about the impacts of marine heatwaves. From the Pacific marine heatwave, we've seen changes throughout the marine food web. Even apart from an actual marine heatwave event, warming ocean temperatures continue and slow the formation of sea ice, create metabolic stress for some animals, facilitate disease (such as sea star wasting syndrome), and foster more algal blooms, including algal blooms with harmful toxins.
What we are learning from the extreme marine heatwave gives us a glipse of what could be more common occurences as the oceans warm.
How Marine Life Changed in the Heatwave
When a massive seabird die-off coincided with an extreme marine heatwave, we knew the ocean ecosystem had dramatically changed.
Explore the Impacts of an Intense Marine Heatwave on Alaska's Marine Ecosystems
We're still learning about the many impacts of the recent extreme Pacific marine heatwave. The National Park Service works with many partners to monitor ecosystems and conduct research that increases our understanding and tracks changes over time.
Learn more about how these efforts have helped track long-term impacts, the varied responses by different species, community-level impacts, and how ecosystems may recover.
What we're learning about marine heatwaves
Showing results 1-10 of 13
- Locations: Katmai National Park & Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
- Offices: Central Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network, Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Read a summary and link to an article that analyzes decades of data on bald eagle nest occupancy and success and correlations with weather and other environmental factors: Schmidt, J. H., H. A. Coletti, K. A. Cutting, T. L. Wilson, B. A. Mangipane, C. N. Schultz, and D. T. Schertz. 2024. The effects of spatiotemporal variation in marine resources on the occupancy dynamics of a terrestrial avian predator. Ecosphere 15(11): e70078.
- Locations: Katmai National Park & Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park
- Offices: Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Read the abstract and get the link to a published science article on the important role of seaweed in the North Pacific nearshore ecosystem: Corliss, K., V. von Biela, H. Coletti, J. Bodkin, D. Esler, and K. Iken. 2024. Relative importance of macroalgae and phytoplankton to nearshore consumers and growth across climatic conditions in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Estuaries and Coasts doi: 10.1007/s12237-024-01371-6
- Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
The Pacific marine heatwave did not impact all marine bird species equally
- Offices: Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Read the abstract for an article that describes how different species were impacted by the Pacific marine heatwave: Robinson, B., H. A. Coletti, B. Ballachey, J. L. Bodkin, K. Kloecker, S. B. Traiger, and D. Esler. 2023. Lack of strong responses to the Pacific marine heatwave by benthivorous marine birds indicates importance of trophic drivers. Marine Ecology Progress Series.
- Offices: Southeast Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network, Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Oceans have always been integral to the people inhabiting Alaska, driving culture and economics for thousands of years. Ecologically, productive northern oceans and seas provide abundant and commercially important fisheries and habitat for marine mammals, seabirds, shorebirds, and many other species. Recent marine heatwaves provide a window into what may happen to ocean life in a warming world. Alaska Park Science 22(1), 2023
- Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Beach Surveys Show the Link Between Marine Heatwaves and Seabird Die-offs
- Offices: Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Read the abstract and get the link to a recent article linking marine heatwaves and seabirds: Jones, T., J. K. Parrish, J. Lindsey, C. Wright, H. K. Burgess, J. Dolliver, L. Divine, R. Kaler, D. Bradley, G. Sorenson, R. Torrenta, S. Backensto, H. Coletti, J. T. Harvey, H. M. Nevins, E. Donnelly-Greenan, D. L. Sherer, J. Roletto, and K. Lindquist. 2023. Marine bird mass mortality events as an indicator of the impacts of ocean warming. Marine Ecology Progress Series: HEATav8.
Read the abstract and link to an article published in PLoS ONE on the massive common murre die-off event in 2015-2016 and the other ecosystem impacts associated with the marine heatwave of 2014-2016: Piatt, J. F. … H. A. Coletti, et al. 2020. Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0226087.
The Blob is a mass of warm water in the north Pacific Ocean that is linked to changes in climate and ocean ecosystems. The ocean is changing; what can we expect in the future?
- Locations: Katmai National Park & Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park
Read a summary and link to the article published about mussel response to the marine heatwave and sea star wasting disease: Traiger, S. B., J. L. Bodkin, H. A. Coletti, B. Ballachey, T. Dean, D. Esler, K. Iken, B. Konar, M. R. Lindberg, D. Monson, B. Robinson, R. M. Suryan, and B. P. Weitzman. 2022. Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting. Marine Ecology : e12715.
- Locations: Katmai National Park & Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
Read the abstract and get the link to an article about how to potentially detect impacts of harmful algal blooms in higher-trophic levels of the ecosystems: Bowen, L., S. Knowles, K. Lefebvre, M. St. Martin, M. Murray, K. Kloecker, D. Monson, B. Weitzman, B. Ballachey, H. Coletti, S. Waters, and C. Cummings. 2022. Divergent gene expression profiles in Alaskan sea otters: An indicator of chronic domoic acid exposure? Oceans 3(3): 401-418.
- Kenai Fjords National Park
Effects Continue from the Pacific Marine Heatwave
- Locations: Kenai Fjords National Park
Effects from the Pacific marine heatwave continue well after the event ended. Marine heatwaves are expected to become more common and widespread as a consequence of climate change. From primary producers to top-level consumers, our studies offer insight as to the varying extent of species’ responses to a wide-scale perturbation. Read the summaries of three recent articles related to marine heatwave impacts and get the links to the published articles.
Tags:
marine heatwave
Last updated: January 2, 2024