An ocean heat wave in the northeast Pacific killed 4 million common murre birds, making it the largest documented single-species die-off in the modern era, new research has found.
A study published in Science on Thursday, led by the Fish and Wildlife Service, found that a marine heat wave between 2014 and 2016 killed off roughly half of Alaska’s common murre population. The small tuxedo-style bird, which resembles a flying penguin, is a major marine predator and suffered as warming waters shifted fish ecosystems.
The marine heat wave — which refers to an extended period of above-average water temperatures — hit the northeast Pacific from late 2014 to 2016. During that time, the common murres died from starvation due to changes within fish populations.
The species has not shown signs of recovery, the Alaska-based research team found. The die-off and subsequent lack of recovery are important indicators of what can come from major oceanic heat waves, said Brie Drummond, who works at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and was one of the study’s authors.
