#warmingoceans — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #warmingoceans, aggregated by home.social.
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NOT so harmless...
Excerpt: "Introducing #KareniaMikimotoi
"The species responsible for recent events in #SouthAustralia beaches, #KMikimotoi, causes harmful #algal blooms in #Asia, #Europe, #SouthAfrica and #SouthAmerica, as well as #Australia and #NewZealand. These blooms all caused fish deaths, and some also caused #breathing difficulties among local #beachgoers.
"The most drastic of these K. mikimotoi blooms have occurred in China over the past two decades. In 2012, more than 300 square kilometres of abalone farms were affected, causing about A$525 million in lost production.
Explaining the toxic effects
"Microalgae can damage the gills of fish and shellfish, preventing them from breathing. This is the main cause of death. But some studies have also found damage to the gastrointestinal tracts and livers of fish.
"Tests using fish gill cells clearly show the dramatic toxic effect of K. mikimotoi. When the fish gill cells were exposed to intact K. mikimotoi cells, after 3.5 hours more than 80% of the fish cells had died.
"Fortunately, the toxin does not persist in the environment after the K. mikimotoi cells are dead. So once the bloom is over, the marine environment can recover relatively quickly.
"Its toxicity is partly due to the algae’s production of 'reactive oxygen species', reactive forms of oxygen molecules which can cause the deaths of cells in high doses. K. mikimotoi cells may also produce lipid (fat) molecules that cause some toxic effects.
"Finally, a very dense bloom of microalgae can sometimes reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water column, which means there is less oxygen for other marine life.
"The human health effects are not very well known but probably relate to the reactive oxygen species being an irritant.
"K. mikimitoi cells can also produce 'mucilage', a type of thick, gluey substance made of complex sugars, which can accumulate #bacteria inside it. This can cause 'sea foam', which was evident on beaches last week.
"A question for many people is whether increasing water temperatures make blooms of K. mikimotoi more likely.
"Another concern is whether nutrient runoff from farms, cities and #aquaculture could cause more harmful algal blooms.
"Unfortunately, for Australia at least, the answer to these questions is we don’t know yet. While we know some harmful algal blooms do increase when nutrient runoff is higher, others actually prefer fewer nutrients or colder temperatures.
"We do know warmer water species seem to be moving further south along the Australian coastline, changing #phytoplankton species abundance and distribution.
"While some microalgal blooms can cause bioluminescence that is beautiful to watch, others such as K. mikimotoi can cause skin and respiratory irritations.
If you notice discoloured water, fish deaths or excessive sea foam along the coast or in an estuary, avoid fishing or swimming in the area and notify local primary industry or environmental authorities in your state."
#OceanHealth #Beaches Algae #SeaFoam #HABs #HarmfulAlgaeBlooms #KareniaMikimotoi #WarmingOceans #Radioactivity #NutrientRunoff #OceansAreLife #ROS #SkinIrritations #RespiratoryIrration #ReactiveOxygenSpecies #DeadZones
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So, it's hotter on the coast than it is inland. That happened last year as well. No sea breeze! Very troubling...
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😢 A #MarineHeatWave caused seabird deaths off California. El Nino could worsen the die-off
‘We don’t know how bad this is going to get’
By JULIE WATSON
Updated 1:25 PM EDT, July 1, 2026SAN DIEGO (AP) — "Within minutes of walking on a #SanDiego beach, marine ornithologist Tammy Russell found the feathered carcasses — one after another.
Some were mixed in with washed up kelp. Others were under rocks."Each month, scientists and volunteers conduct surveys of dead #seabirds and find what Russell describes as a grim assessment of the impact of a massive marine HeatWave that has lingered for months off parts of the California coast.
"The surveys that have been carried out by various organizations for decades help build a baseline of information on beached sea life to detect threats and their impact.
"Many seabirds, including California #BrownPelicans, #loons and #grebes, starved to death in recent months as record-setting ocean temperatures decreased the band of cold, nutrient-rich surface water where #krill, #anchovies and #sardines thrive near the shore, said Russell, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
"We’ve been seeing #cormorants walk to shore and then just die within the hour. I mean one time it happened within 15 minutes, and I’ve never seen that before,” Russell said. 'That has been heartbreaking for me and we’re seeing this happening across the whole coast.'
"Scientists fear the die-off could worsen with the recently formed El Nino, the natural warming of parts of the central Pacific that alters weather worldwide and spikes global temperatures."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/jsx3D#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #PacificOcean #ElNino #WarmingOceans #OceanDieOff #Seabirds
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#Jellyfish Shut Four French #NuclearReactors as #HeatWave Builds
By Eamon Farhat
August 11, 2025" #ElectriciteDeFrance SA [#EDF] was forced to shut four #AtomicReactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged up filter drums at its #Gravelines power plant.
"The 'massive and unforeseen' [um, not if you read my posts -- very much FORESEEN] presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of pumping stations closed four out of six reactors at Gravelines on the north coast of France, EDF said in a statement on Monday. Pumping stations for coastal #NuclearPlants usually draw in sea water for cooling, sometimes exposing them to marine life.
"A #MarineHeatWave is intensifying off the west coast of France, with unusually warm waters in the English Channel near Gravelines, data from #Copernicus Marine Service show. Jellyfish populations can 'bloom' at such times, and France has closed several beaches in recent weeks due to invasions of the eight-legged molluscs, according reports compiled by the beach information app Meduseo."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/bahil#EuropeHeatWaves #France #Jellyfish #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
#LeNucléaireNonMerci #ClimateChange #WarmingOceans