North Pacific Warm Water Blob Is Back;

The blob, which is a popular term for a huge patch of warmer-than-normal water in the northern Pacific Ocean, has returned off the B.C. coast. It is a phenomenon that started showing up in 2013 and has been appearing off and on since then, said Armel Castellan, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Castellan said the blob, which covers about 2,000 kilometres, has returned after stagnant and unseasonably warm weather this summer and fall.

“It’s not that the ocean is warm, it’s that it’s warmer than normal,” he said, adding that the large, resilient ridges of warm weather deflect Pacific storms, so without wind mixing the water, the sun heats up the surface, usually more than 2ºC warmer than normal.

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The blob is thought to be responsible for changes in the marine ecosystem, such as fish declines and whales not having enough nutrition. In 2017, the poor salmon returns to the Fraser River were thought to be linked to the blob, which researchers also refer to as a coastal marine heat wave.

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https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/the-blob-is-back-off-the-b-c-coast