Researchers electronically tagged bull sharks with a transmitting locator device, which recorded the depth and temperature of the part of the ocean they swam to. It’s not just ocean heat that’s affecting marine life – new research shows extremely cold events are welling up and causing mass mortalities. And the same planet-warming pollution that’s driving the climate crisis is likely to blame for these “killer events” on the other end of the temperature spectrum.
“And then the winds changed, and the currents started changing slightly, which is a seasonal thing,” he added. “Then all of a sudden, the temperature within 24 hours dropped by 11 degrees.” According to the study, the lethality of a cold event is likely linked to how fast the temperature drops. If the cold event lasts for multiple days, which has been occurring more frequently, research shows that marine animals including turtles and many fish species could suffer from hypothermia and physiological malfunction or ultimately die.