Scientists are keeping a close eye on a wedge-shaped mass of warm water off the West Coast. It’s massive in size — starting near Vancouver Island and stretching all the way to Hawaii. The scientists say it resembles a marine heat wave nicknamed “the blob” that disrupted ocean ecosystems about five years ago. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says water temperatures in the mass are three to four degrees Celsius higher than the longterm average for those parts of the Pacific — and U-B-C professor Andrew Trites notes that’s enough to affect marine life.
