B2 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019 S LATIMES.COM
A large and unusually
warm mass of water is
threatening to disturb the
marine ecosystem along the
Pacific Coast from South-
ern California to Alaska,
scientists from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration said Thurs-
day.
They call it the North-
east Pacific Marine Heat-
wave of 2019, and if it doesn’t
dissipate soon, researchers
said it could be as destruc-
tive as the infamous “blob”
of warm water that caused
massive toxic algae blooms
along the coast and
wreaked havoc on whales,
salmon, baby sea lions and
other marine life in 2014 and
2015.
“Really, only time will tell
if this feature will persist
and if it will rival the pastevent in duration and im-
pact,” said Andrew Leising,
a research oceanographer
at NOAA’s Southwest Fish-
eries Science Center in La
Jolla.
Marine heat waves are
defined as oceanic events in
which the surface tempera-
ture of the water is warmer
than 90% of past measure-
ments for at least five days
in a row.
The Northeast Pacific
Marine Heatwave of 2019
currently covers about
4 million square miles of
ocean surface.The affected area is
roughly the shape of a trian-
gle, with Hawaii, Alaska and
Southern California as its
vertices.
At its peak, the blob was
just a bit bigger, covering a
similar area that stretched
for roughly 4.8 million
square miles.
That makes the current
event the second largest
marine heat wave since
scientists started tracking
the phenomenon in 1981,
NOAA researchers said.
Scientists first noticed
the Northeast Pacific Mar-ine Heatwave in June. It
appears to be caused by a
persistent area of low pres-
sure in the atmosphere
directly above the warm
water.
That low pressure led to
a general weakening of the
ocean winds that normally
cool the water’s surface and
mix that top layer with
cooler water from the deep,
researchers said.
However, scientists are
still unsure what caused the
low-pressure system to stay
put for so long.
“Usually it intensifiesand weakens day to day. It
doesn’t sit there for months
at a time,” said Nate
Mantua, a research scientist
at NOAA’s Southwest Fish-
eries Science Center in
Santa Cruz. “It may not
have a cause other than the
chaotic motion of the at-
mosphere.”
Scientists said there is
no evidence that climate
change is responsible for the
current marine heat wave,
although it might have
exacerbated it.
“Human-caused climate
change has contributed
something like 1 degree
Celsius of warming across
much of the North Pacific,”
Mantua said. “This event is
much bigger — at least 3
degrees Celsius in the last
three months.”
Researchers said the 2019
marine heat wave could be
even bigger than the blob,
but it could also break
apart.
“With the blob, the water
was very warm down to 200
meters and even down
below 500 meters,” said
Toby Garfield, director of
the environmental research
division at NOAA’s South-
west Fisheries Science
Center in La Jolla. “With
this event right now, the
heat is only in the top 50
meters, maximum.”
If the low-pressure sys-
tem moves and the winds
increase, the heat wave
might simply break apart.
However, if the winds
stay low and the mass of
warm water reaches the
coastline, it could have the
same effect as the blob,
scientists said.
“It is duration and prox-
imity to the coast that we
are tracking,” Leising said.
For now, cold waters
welling up from the ocean
depths have held the mass
of warm water offshore, but
that phenomenon usually
eases in the fall.
Scientists say they have
already seen that happen
along the coast of Washing-
ton state.
It will take a few months
to see whether the same
thing happens farther
south.SCIENCE FILE
Trouble for Pacific Coast’s ocean life
Scientists monitor a
marine heat wave that
could rival destructive
‘blob’ of 2014-15.
DEBORAH NETBURN
A mountain lion that in
July became the first GPS-
tracked cougar to success-
fully cross the 405 Freeway
was struck and killed on the
freeway in the Sepulveda
Pass early Saturday, officials
said.
The 4-year-old male
mountain lion known as P-61
is believed to have been
killed about 4 a.m. on the
freeway between Bel Air
Crest Road and the Sepul-
veda Boulevard underpass,
the Santa Monica Mountain
National Recreation Area
posted on its Facebook
page.
The California Highway
Patrol was alerted and
called in Los Angeles Animal
Control officers, who re-
trieved the cat’s body and ra-
dio collar and notified the
state Department of Fish
and Wildlife and researchers
at the recreation area.
P-61, who was first cap-
tured and outfitted with a
collar in October 2017, had
previously crossed the busy
10-lane freeway near the Se-
pulveda Pass in the early
morning hours of July 19, ac-
cording to the recreation
area.He was the first GPS-col-
lared cougar tracked by
state park officials to cross
the freeway during a 17-year
study of mountain lions in
and around the Santa Moni-
ca Mountains.Researchers are not sure
why P-61 tried to cross the
freeway again, according to
the recreation area. Based
on his GPS points, he had
been staying close to the
eastern edge of the 405. Offi-cials said P-61 may have had
a negative encounter with an
uncollared male mountain
lion that lives in that area,
prompting the cat to try to
move back west.
Other large cats have met
their end trying to cross the- In 2011, P-18 was struck
and killed by a vehicle in the
same general vicinity. Two
years earlier, an uncollared
lion met the same fate.
At least six bobcats were
struck and killed by vehicles
in the Santa Monica Moun-
tains earlier this year.
The 2018 Woolsey fire may
have played a role in the
uptick in deaths as animals
roamed larger areas to seek
food and water.
Freeways act as a barrier
for the mountain lion popu-
lation.
Of the 75 mountain lions
that have been studied, re-
searchers have typically
found that many travel to
the edge of freeways without
crossing.
Plans are underway to
build an $87-million wildlife
crossing bridge on the 101
Freeway in Agoura Hills.
The mostly privately-
funded project, which is in
its final design stages, is ex-
pected to break ground
within two years, according
to the California Depart-
ment of Transportation.
GPS-tracked puma P-61 dies crossing 405
Male collared cougar,
who had crossed the
freeway in July, is hit
in the Sepulveda Pass.
By Colleen Shalby
and Carlos Lozano
THE COUGAR known as P-61 was captured and outfitted with a GPS collar in
October 2017 and had previously crossed the busy 10-lane 405 Freeway in July.National Park Service