Pink sea urchins that live in deep water off the Island are slowly moving into shallower places as food sources and oxygen levels decline due to a warming ocean.
The pretty pink urchins that live in deep water off the coast of Vancouver Island have a story to tell.
Rylan Command, lead author from Memorial University and UVic faculty of science alumni, said kelp have been slow to recover from recent heat waves along the B.C. coast, which has posed challenges for many species, including bottom-dwelling sea urchins that rely on decaying kelp for food. Command said warmer-than-normal surface temperatures inhibit a natural “ocean mixing” process called up-welling, where nutrient-rich water from lower depths cycles up to mix with warmer surface waters, which influences how much kelp and seaweed grow.
Four years after the Blob dissipated, video at Barkley Upper Slope showed the urchins were returning. However, in the long term, researchers expect pink urchins will continue to move into shallow water as the Northeast Pacific’s oxygen-minimum zone continues to expand, and climate change increases the frequency of marine heat waves.
The study found pink sea urchins also play a key role in cycling nutrients by stirring up ocean floors and feeding on decayed organic material.They also used 14 years of Fisheries and Oceans Canada trawl surveys, covering a 760-square-kilometre area in the northeast Pacific. The data from NEPTUNE’s Barkley Canyon platform, at a depth of 396 metres, included video cameras, oxygen sensors, and tools that monitor water currents and water physical properties.
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