PMEL in the News
Arctic ice melt is killing birds and will leave caribou stranded
The ongoing loss of sea-ice cover is wreaking havoc on ecosystems across the Arctic, and may spell the end of more species than previously thought. Arctic sea-ice cover has shrunk this year to the second lowest summer level ever recorded, following an unprecedented winter low. “There will be winners and losers,” says Martin Renner of Tern Again Consulting in Homer, Alaska. “Species that rely directly on sea ice, like ivory gulls, will run into difficult times.”
UW makes waves in ocean acidification
The San Juan archipelago, perhaps most famous for its pod of southern resident killer whales, is also home to the UW’s world-renowned biological field station, the Friday Harbor Laboratory (FHL). Built in 1910 on the former Point Caution military reserve, FHL has grown from a single building to a sprawling campus with over a dozen specialized laboratories.
Tainted clam sample to blame for season delay
In a dispiriting reminder of 2015’s disastrous early end to one razor clam season and long delay in starting the next one, word came this Wednesday that marine toxin levels may again be above the safety threshold on the Long Beach Peninsula.
Dispatches from Oceans ’16: Exploring Other Oceans
How autonomous underwater vehicles are fundamentally changing the way humans are exploring the ocean was the focus of the first plenary session at Oceans ’16.
‘Son of a Blob’ springs to life in Pacific
The Blob, a news-making patch of unusually warm ocean surface water from late-2013 through autumn 2015, was reborn this month. The ocean warmed quickly. As recently as July, “The northeast Pacific off our coast was slightly above normal, but nothing exceptional,” University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass noted Sunday in his popular blog.