
Sea urchins are on the move, and the ‘Blob’ is partly to blame
New research has uncovered a change in behaviour of deep-sea fragile pink sea urchins off the south coast of Vancouver Island that is linked to climate change impacts including the “Blob,” a marine heatwave that persisted in the Pacific Ocean off North America between 2013 to 2016. Researchers from the University of Victoria (UVic), Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), and the Memorial University of Newfoundland found that pink sea urchins have been moving up into shallower waters as food sources and oxygen levels at lower depths decline due to a warming ocean.