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Took my kids to the coast last weekend and the water was way warmer than usual.
We went to a beach near Santa Cruz. The water felt like a bath, not the cold Pacific I remember. A park ranger said the sea surface temp there is about 5 degrees above normal for May. Saw way fewer seabirds than usual too. It just felt off. Made me wonder what local groups are tracking this stuff. Anyone know a good site for real-time coastal data in California?
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mary7682mo agoMost Upvoted
That part about fewer seabirds really got me. It's not just the water temp, the whole food web might be shifting. Warmer water holds less oxygen and can kill off the small stuff that birds and fish eat. For real-time data, I check the NOAA tides and currents site (they have a buoy near Monterey that shows temp). It's scary how fast things are changing.
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wendy2051mo ago
mary768, you hit it right when you said "the whole food web might be shifting." That part stuck with me too. I saw maybe 10 gulls and no pelicans at all, which used to be the usual sight. And ugh, the oxygen thing makes so much sense now. My son asked why the water felt so "stale" near the rocks, and I didn't know what to tell him. Thanks for the NOAA site tip, I'm going to bookmark that buoy near Monterey tonight. It's honestly kind of heartbreaking to watch it change like this right in front of us.
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