‘Heatdome’probablykilled1bnmarineanimalsonCanadacoast,expertssay‘Heatdome’probablykilled1bnmarineanimalsonCanadacoast,expertssay

Over 1 billion shellfish dead

on Canada

coast


Heat wave keeps killing
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Quiz
More than 1 billion marine animals along Canada’s Pacific coast are likely to have died from last week’s record heatwave, experts warn, highlighting the vulnerability of ecosystems unaccustomed to extreme temperatures.
The Guardian reports:
Christopher Harley, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia, has calculated that more than a billion marine animals may have been killed by the unusual heat.
Photograph by Christopher Harley
“The shore doesn’t usually crunch when you walk on it. But there were so many empty mussel shells lying everywhere that you just couldn’t avoid stepping on dead animals while walking around,” he (Harley) said.
"A square meter of mussel bed could be home to several dozen or even one hundred species," said Christopher Harley.
Quiz
"A lot of sea life would have died."
The mass death of shellfish would temporarily affect water quality because mussels and clams help filter the sea.
Climate change
Experts have cautioned that the province needs to adapt to the reality that sudden and sustained heatwaves are likely to become more common.
Another heatwave is expected to strike the western United States and south-western Canada in the coming week.