Lecture on Ocean Conditions

Salmon biologist Laurie Weitkamp.

The MidCoast Watersheds Council invites that public to a talk on “The Blob, El Nino, and the Biological Response across the Northeast Pacific.”  The event takes place on Thursday, Oct. 4, 6:30 p.m. at the Newport Visual Arts Center (777 N.W. Beach Dr.) in Room 205.  Refreshments will be served.

The speaker will be Laurie Weitkamp, a salmon biologist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center since 1992.  She will discuss the extended marine heat wave has been present across the Northeast Pacific Ocean since 2014.  This has resulted in dramatic changes to marine ecosystems at all trophic levels from diatoms (microscopic algae) to fish to marine mammals.

Her  presentation will provide an update on how the “Blob’ (the vast pool of warm water that has surged into the northern Pacific ocean in recent years) and El Niño have changed the ocean and what the biological impacts of those changes has been, including on salmon and other fish found in the ocean off Newport.  These impacts are continuing, due to biological lags and invasions of new species such as pyrosomes, commonly called “sea-pickles”. These strange looking creatures can be found in huge numbers and rockfish have been found with these indigestible creatures filling their stomachs.

Weitkamp’s research focuses on the ecology of salmon in estuarine and marine environments, including how physical conditions influence biological processes that are important for survival. This work includes documenting the impacts of recent anomalous conditions on marine ecosystems across the North Pacific Ocean. 

For information, contact Evan Hayduk, (541) 265-9195, evan@midcoastwatershedscouncil.org.