The Blob is Surging Back in the Pacific, Leading to Fears of Mass Die-Offs of Marine Life and Unusual Weather Patterns.

Across vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean extending from Hawaii north to the shores of Alaska, and southeast to near California, a new marine heat wave is underway. This event is widely referred to as “The Blob Part Two,” or just another “Blob,” after the first event, which took place 2014 through 2016, earned that odd moniker based on its bold red appearance on maps of ocean surface temperatures.

The new incarnation has already caused coral bleaching in the Hawaiian islands, and it may be tied to strandings of marine mammals along the California coast. If it continues to intensify and seeps into deeper waters, this marine heat wave could favor another drought in California by altering the jet stream flowing across the Pacific.

But it’s not a sure bet that the current blob — a large splotch of red, resembling planetary acne, on global maps displaying sea surface temperature difference from normal — will have the staying power of the last event.

That is mainly because much of the warmer-than-average ocean temperatures don’t extend to deep depths, only about 65 feet, said Andrew Leising, a research oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That is in contrast with the last one, when warm waters went all the way down to nearly 400 feet in some spots.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/09/21/blob-is-surging-back-pacific-leading-fears-mass-die-offs-marine-life-unusual-weather-patterns/