Over 1 Billion Sea Creatures 'Cooked' Underwater Due To Extreme Heatwave

Researchers are of the belief that over 1 billion sea creatures have died due to the record-breaking heatwave recorded in the Pacific Northwest.

Representational Image: Getty Images

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This is according to Chris Harley, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia in a conversation with CBC (highlighted by Gizmodo). Chris revealed that he was ‘stunned’ while walking along Vancouver’s Kitsilano beach only to see thousands of mussels cracked open with meat inside, indicating their recent death.?

This was the result of the crazy hot temperatures in Vancouver coupled with the terrible timing of the tides. Harley reported that during the June heatwave when temperatures reached 40 degrees celsius in Vancouver, his lab actually recorded temperatures of 50 degrees celsius along the shoreline. This subjected the crustaceans like mussels, clams to such temperatures for over six hours when the tide went out.?

Chris Harley

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Harley explained, “A mussel on the shore in some ways is like a toddler left in a car on a hot day. They are stuck there until the parent comes back, or in this case, the tide comes back in, and there’s very little they can do. They’re at the mercy of the environment. And on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, during the heatwave, it just got so hot that the mussels, there was nothing they could do.”

Harley is working with his students in his lab to look at more evidence and calculate the number of sea creatures that could have died in the Salish Sea during last week’s heatwave. Based on some rough calculations he made while walking on the beach, Harley estimates the number to be at least around 1 billion.?

Chris Harley

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Justifying the high estimate, he explained, “If you’re losing a few hundred or a few thousand mussels for every major shoreline, that quickly scales up to a very, very large number.”

He concluded by stating, “Eventually, we just won’t be able to sustain these populations of filter feeders on the shoreline to be anywhere near the extent that we’re used to.”