The Telegraph – Swarms of venomous jelly fish and poisonous algae are migrating into British waters due to changes in the ocean temperatures, a major new study has revealed.
Warming ocean waters are causing the largest movement of marine species seen on Earth in more than two million years, according to scientists.
In the Arctic, melting sea ice during recent summers has allowed a passage to open up from the Pacific ocean into the North Atlantic, allowing plankton, fish and even whales to into the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific.
The discovery has sparked fears delicate marine food webs could be unbalanced and lead to some species becoming extinct as competition for food between the native species and the invaders stretches resources.
Rising ocean temperatures are also allowing species normally found in warmer sub-tropical regions to into the northeast Atlantic.
A venomous warm-water species Pelagia noctiluca has forced the closure of beaches and is now becoming increasingly common in the waters around Britain.
A form of algae known as dinoflagellates has also been found to be moving eastwards across the Atlantic towards Scandinavia and the North Sea.
Huge blooms of these marine plants use up the oxygen in the water and can produce toxic compounds that make shellfish poisonous.
Plankton sampling in the north Atlantic over the past 70 years have also shown that other species of plankton, normally only found in the Pacific ocean, have now become common in Atlantic waters.
The scientists, who have been collaborating on the Climate Change and European Marine Ecosystems Research project, found the plankton species, called Neodenticula seminae, traveled into the Atlantic through a passage through the Arctic sea ice around that has opened up a number of times in the last decade from the Pacific Ocean.
Larger species including a grey whale have also been found to have made the journey through the passage, which winds it’s way from the Pacific coast of Alaska through the islands of northern Canada and down past Greenland into the Atlantic Ocean, when it opened first in 1998, and then again in 2007 and 2010.
Professor Chris Reid, from the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, said: “It seems for the first time in probably thousands of years a huge area of sea water opened up between Alaska and the west of Greenland, allowing a huge transfer of water and species between the two oceans.
Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8598597/Warming-oceans-cause-largest-movement-of-marine-species-in-two-million-years.html
The world as we have known it to be is changing right before our very eyes. We are watching history unfolding every day. We are a part of it. Do we participate in a manner that sustains Life on and within our planet? Or, do we contribute to the destruction of Life and our Earth Mother?
It is something to consider when we make choices every day. Even little things make a difference. Remember…………It was a straw that broke the camel’s back. 🙂
This is scary. Very scary.
Excerpts from the article:
“Among the other species to have migrated from the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic was a grey whale that was spotted as far south as the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain …Grey whales have been extinct in the Atlantic Ocean for more than a hundred years…”
If I may share a personal memory .. I remember when I was with the art staff at the Natural history museum, I did an illustration of the grey whale path of migration along the Pacific coastline …So, it seems this new discovery of the greys into the Atlantic Ocean may change the established boundaries of these amazing creatures! Namaste~
Personal memories make posts more interesting for all of us, Coralina. Thanks for sharing your! 🙂
Yes, many boundaries will no doubt change now for many species. It will be most interesting to watch it all unfold. The question arises as to whether these changes will be beneficial or not in the long run. From what it appears to be right now, they are going to be a challenge for many to live with and through.
It is, indeed, very scary to consider the far reaching impacts of these events. It is disturbing when we realize that what we are seeing today is the direct result of human hands. Whether the Arctic icecap was melted through experimentations with HAARP, or whether it was the result of global warming from greenhouse gases, it still reflect the misuse of our planet by the human race.
The question we must each ask ourselves now is whether or not we can repair and/or live with what has been created through this misuse.
It is as if we, as a planet, are a tire out of balance and if we continue on this course our tire will come apart and shred leaving nothing left….. unless of course, we wake up, pull to the side of the road and fix our tire NOW…. just my thought, I could be wrong…. but I don’t think so. Peace.
Hi Paul! 🙂 Thanks for your comment. No, I don’t think you are wrong. The course our planet is on due to our interference is very much like a tire out of Balance. In fact, the Earth’s wobble could be seen much like it. Unfortunately, the more we interfere with the Earth’s natural functioning, the more out of Balance she becomes. I’m not sure it will be up to us to “fix the flat”, either. It has gone on too long and with too much intensity for us to be able to repair the damage the human hand has done. I think Mother Earth is going to have to do some serious readjusting. So, it is time for us to do some serious meditating and praying to help her out. 🙂