What Dead Seabirds Are Trying to Tell Us About the Pacific Ocean

1
00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:03,316
Thousands of seabirds are dying
along California's coast, but the

2
00:00:03,326 --> 00:00:04,909
birds aren't actually the story.

3
00:00:05,206 --> 00:00:08,166
They're warning us that something
much bigger is happening beneath

4
00:00:08,166 --> 00:00:10,226
the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

5
00:00:10,639 --> 00:00:13,669
This is the How to Protect the Ocean
podcast, your weekly ocean news update.

6
00:00:13,669 --> 00:00:17,029
If you care about staying informed
on the ocean every single weekday,

7
00:00:17,029 --> 00:00:20,476
Monday to Friday, hit that follow
button right now on your podcast app

8
00:00:20,476 --> 00:00:22,463
so you don't miss tomorrow's story.

9
00:00:22,736 --> 00:00:24,106
Today, we're answering one question.

10
00:00:24,336 --> 00:00:28,506
Why are seabirds starving and what
does their struggle tell us about the

11
00:00:28,506 --> 00:00:33,716
future of our oceans, especially with an
impending super El Niño coming into play?

12
00:00:34,213 --> 00:00:38,403
Now, if you've watched a pelican glide
just above the waves or seen cormorants

13
00:00:38,433 --> 00:00:41,983
diving for fish, it's easy to think
they make hunting look effortless.

14
00:00:42,219 --> 00:00:45,399
But right now, off the coast of
California, many of those birds

15
00:00:45,466 --> 00:00:47,286
can't find enough food to survive.

16
00:00:47,606 --> 00:00:51,496
Scientists, volunteers, and wildlife
rehabilitation centers are reporting

17
00:00:51,516 --> 00:00:55,493
unusually high numbers of starving
seabirds washing up on the beaches.

18
00:00:55,653 --> 00:00:59,773
Some birds are so weak they walk
ashore and die within minutes.

19
00:01:00,063 --> 00:01:03,613
Others are turning up far inland,
desperately searching for food in lakes

20
00:01:03,696 --> 00:01:05,943
and reservoirs instead of the ocean.

21
00:01:06,449 --> 00:01:10,369
The images are heartbreaking, and
they also tell us something important.

22
00:01:10,633 --> 00:01:12,889
These birds are acting like
the ocean's warning lights.

23
00:01:12,989 --> 00:01:16,129
They're showing us that the
Pacific food web is under stress.

24
00:01:16,403 --> 00:01:19,363
Every month, teams of scientists
and volunteers walk California

25
00:01:19,363 --> 00:01:20,973
beaches counting dead seabirds.

26
00:01:21,193 --> 00:01:22,783
And it may sound like a strange job.

27
00:01:22,793 --> 00:01:24,013
I mean, nobody really wants to do that.

28
00:01:24,013 --> 00:01:24,813
It's pretty depressing.

29
00:01:25,013 --> 00:01:27,383
But these surveys have
been happening for decades.

30
00:01:27,593 --> 00:01:29,803
The goal isn't to simply count dead birds.

31
00:01:29,869 --> 00:01:32,846
It's to detect changes in health
of the marine ecosystem before

32
00:01:32,846 --> 00:01:34,846
they become impossible to ignore.

33
00:01:35,223 --> 00:01:37,993
This year, those surveys have
become much more alarming.

34
00:01:38,323 --> 00:01:42,333
Researchers are finding large
numbers of brown pelicans, loons,

35
00:01:42,423 --> 00:01:46,053
grebs, cormorants, and other
seabirds that died from starvation.

36
00:01:46,263 --> 00:01:49,299
According to marine ornithologist
Tammy Russell, some cormorants

37
00:01:49,309 --> 00:01:52,449
have been observed walking onto
shore and dying within fifteen

38
00:01:52,449 --> 00:01:54,269
minutes because they were so weak.

39
00:01:54,459 --> 00:01:56,509
That is a terrible thing to watch.

40
00:01:56,746 --> 00:01:57,986
So what changed?

41
00:01:58,306 --> 00:02:01,226
The answer isn't that the birds
suddenly forgot how to walk.

42
00:02:01,586 --> 00:02:02,956
The problem is the water.

43
00:02:03,416 --> 00:02:07,146
A marine heatwave has lingered off
parts of California's coast for months.

44
00:02:07,389 --> 00:02:11,429
According to scientists, it's one of
only three times on record that such

45
00:02:11,429 --> 00:02:15,209
a large stretch of coastal water has
stayed unusually warm for so long.

46
00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,899
Several long-term monitoring stations
have recorded record-breaking

47
00:02:18,899 --> 00:02:21,159
temperatures for more than 40 days.

48
00:02:21,549 --> 00:02:24,279
Warm water might not sound like a crisis.

49
00:02:24,489 --> 00:02:27,509
It may sound actually quite nice
'cause people like to go in warm water.

50
00:02:27,963 --> 00:02:29,943
Marine life often doesn't.

51
00:02:30,413 --> 00:02:33,533
California's coastal ecosystem
depends on cold, nutrient-rich

52
00:02:33,543 --> 00:02:35,413
waters rising from the deep ocean.

53
00:02:35,883 --> 00:02:40,223
That process, called upwelling, feeds
tiny organisms like plankton and krill.

54
00:02:40,663 --> 00:02:43,373
Those organisms feed
anchovies and sardines.

55
00:02:43,683 --> 00:02:47,993
These fish feed seabirds, sea
lions, whales, dolphins, and even

56
00:02:47,993 --> 00:02:49,473
people through commercial fisheries.

57
00:02:49,839 --> 00:02:53,629
When the water stays unusually warm, many
of those cold water fish move farther

58
00:02:53,629 --> 00:02:55,769
offshore or deeper beneath the surface.

59
00:02:56,063 --> 00:02:57,663
The birds can't always follow them.

60
00:02:58,013 --> 00:03:01,899
Many seabirds have evolved to feed
close to shore or near the surface.

61
00:03:02,279 --> 00:03:06,196
If the food disappears, they burn
through their energy reserves so quickly.

62
00:03:06,623 --> 00:03:09,993
For many species, starvation can
happen within just a few days.

63
00:03:10,326 --> 00:03:13,926
Here's why this story is bigger
than a few starving birds.

64
00:03:14,193 --> 00:03:15,623
Seabirds are indicators.

65
00:03:15,743 --> 00:03:18,089
Think of them as the ocean's
health monitors, like the

66
00:03:18,089 --> 00:03:19,859
canary in the coal mine in a way.

67
00:03:20,276 --> 00:03:22,896
When they start struggling, it's
often because something lower in

68
00:03:22,906 --> 00:03:24,986
the food chain has already changed.

69
00:03:25,326 --> 00:03:26,846
They're giving us an early warning.

70
00:03:27,286 --> 00:03:29,456
Imagine removing the
foundation from a building.

71
00:03:29,616 --> 00:03:31,576
The roof doesn't just
collapse immediately.

72
00:03:31,943 --> 00:03:35,943
The crack appears first, and that's
what we're seeing right now, the cracks.

73
00:03:36,373 --> 00:03:39,516
If forage fish like sardines and
anchovies become harder to find, the

74
00:03:39,526 --> 00:03:41,356
impacts spread throughout the ecosystem.

75
00:03:41,723 --> 00:03:43,753
Whales have to work harder to find food.

76
00:03:43,763 --> 00:03:45,383
Sea lions have to travel farther.

77
00:03:45,589 --> 00:03:47,029
Fish populations will shift.

78
00:03:47,203 --> 00:03:49,423
Commercial fisheries will
become less predictable.

79
00:03:49,663 --> 00:03:53,073
Entire coastal economies
can feel the effects.

80
00:03:53,429 --> 00:03:54,639
And there's another concern.

81
00:03:54,909 --> 00:03:58,579
Scientists say that this marine heatwave
may become even more disruptive because

82
00:03:58,579 --> 00:04:03,459
it's now overlapping with a newly formed
El Niño, which might be a super El Niño.

83
00:04:03,783 --> 00:04:07,063
Last month, the US National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration,

84
00:04:07,073 --> 00:04:10,409
NOAA, confirmed that El Niño has
developed and forecasters expect

85
00:04:10,409 --> 00:04:11,839
it to strengthen considerably.

86
00:04:12,199 --> 00:04:14,959
El Niño naturally warms
part of the Pacific Ocean.

87
00:04:15,216 --> 00:04:19,803
When that natural warming is already added
to unusually warm ocean waters, marine

88
00:04:19,803 --> 00:04:22,413
ecosystems face even greater stress.

89
00:04:22,796 --> 00:04:23,906
We've seen this before.

90
00:04:23,916 --> 00:04:28,186
Many listeners may remember the Blob, the
massive marine heatwave that stretched

91
00:04:28,186 --> 00:04:31,136
across the Northeast Pacific between
twenty thirteen and twenty sixteen.

92
00:04:31,136 --> 00:04:34,996
I covered it quite regularly during
those times when I had the podcast going.

93
00:04:35,309 --> 00:04:38,939
That event triggered the one of the
largest seabird die-offs ever recorded.

94
00:04:39,343 --> 00:04:43,433
Years later, scientists estimated that
more than four million common murres

95
00:04:43,433 --> 00:04:47,593
died during that event, and some
populations are still recovering today.

96
00:04:47,993 --> 00:04:50,453
That's why researchers are
paying such close attention now.

97
00:04:51,033 --> 00:04:53,043
They don't want history to repeat itself.

98
00:04:53,347 --> 00:04:56,777
The honest answer is that
scientists don't yet know how

99
00:04:56,777 --> 00:04:58,137
severe this event will become.

100
00:04:58,460 --> 00:05:01,630
Not every dead seabird is dying
because of the marine heatwave.

101
00:05:02,020 --> 00:05:05,230
Young birds naturally experience high
mortality after leaving the nests.

102
00:05:05,525 --> 00:05:08,875
Researchers are also testing birds
for diseases like avian influenza,

103
00:05:08,942 --> 00:05:10,782
and looking for other
contributing factors.

104
00:05:10,959 --> 00:05:12,979
But the timing is difficult to ignore.

105
00:05:13,339 --> 00:05:15,879
The increase in starving birds
lines up closely with one of the

106
00:05:15,879 --> 00:05:19,479
longest-lasting marine heatwaves ever
recorded along California's coast.

107
00:05:19,739 --> 00:05:22,679
Scientists will continue to
monitor ocean temperatures.

108
00:05:22,699 --> 00:05:23,899
They'll track fish movements.

109
00:05:23,909 --> 00:05:27,589
They'll analyze seabird populations, and
they'll compare today's observations

110
00:05:27,599 --> 00:05:29,519
with decades of historical records.

111
00:05:29,732 --> 00:05:32,472
Those long-term monitoring
programs are incredibly valuable.

112
00:05:32,619 --> 00:05:36,819
Without them, this story might simply look
like a few unfortunate birds on the beach.

113
00:05:37,119 --> 00:05:40,929
Instead, scientists can place today's
observations into a much bigger picture.

114
00:05:41,259 --> 00:05:44,539
Another important point is what we see
on the beach is only part of the story.

115
00:05:45,029 --> 00:05:47,779
Most birds that die at sea
never get washed ashore.

116
00:05:48,095 --> 00:05:51,032
It's almost like when we see the North
Atlantic right whales, when we see an

117
00:05:51,032 --> 00:05:53,542
entangled whale that washes up to shore.

118
00:05:53,729 --> 00:05:56,209
A lot of those whales we don't
actually see because they ended up

119
00:05:56,209 --> 00:05:58,949
drowning and they end up dying at
sea, and we never end up seeing them.

120
00:05:59,119 --> 00:06:00,439
The same thing is happening
with these seabirds.

121
00:06:01,212 --> 00:06:04,942
That means the birds people are finding
likely represent only a small fraction of

122
00:06:04,952 --> 00:06:07,122
the actual mortality happening offshore.

123
00:06:07,429 --> 00:06:09,992
It's a reminder that the ocean
often hides its problems.

124
00:06:10,175 --> 00:06:13,045
We usually don't notice them
until it's impossible to ignore.

125
00:06:13,399 --> 00:06:17,269
The encouraging news is that these
stories like this help scientists improve

126
00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,969
forecasting, understand the ecosystem
responses, and prepare conservation

127
00:06:20,969 --> 00:06:22,739
managers for future marine heatwaves.

128
00:06:22,915 --> 00:06:26,525
The better we understand these events, the
better we can adapt fisheries management,

129
00:06:26,525 --> 00:06:30,065
protect critical habitats, and strengthen
the resilience of marine ecosystems.

130
00:06:30,065 --> 00:06:34,012
The starving seabirds along
California's coast aren't just

131
00:06:34,022 --> 00:06:35,452
victims of a changing oceans.

132
00:06:35,589 --> 00:06:36,569
They're messengers.

133
00:06:36,749 --> 00:06:40,079
They're showing us what happens
when warming waters reshape entire

134
00:06:40,079 --> 00:06:42,019
food webs from the bottom up.

135
00:06:42,569 --> 00:06:45,735
If we pay attention to those signals
today, we'll be prepared for

136
00:06:45,735 --> 00:06:47,645
the changes that are still ahead.

137
00:06:47,869 --> 00:06:50,985
The problem is, is our governments,
are they paying attention?

138
00:06:51,325 --> 00:06:55,485
Yesterday, I just talked about how Canada
will not meet its targets for being

139
00:06:55,515 --> 00:06:58,885
under forty to forty-five percent under
the two thousand and five greenhouse

140
00:06:58,885 --> 00:07:02,939
gases, and that's above those targets,
and that's just not acceptable.

141
00:07:03,329 --> 00:07:06,669
But we have to change things because
politically, the world is changing from

142
00:07:06,669 --> 00:07:09,849
an economic standpoint, and that's
affecting our environmental policies.

143
00:07:09,919 --> 00:07:13,739
And now here we have messengers along
the California coast, and it's not just

144
00:07:13,739 --> 00:07:18,217
about the US getting the messengers It's
about the entire world getting the message

145
00:07:18,217 --> 00:07:20,007
that things are shifting in the ocean.

146
00:07:20,347 --> 00:07:22,997
Food is going elsewhere
for certain predators.

147
00:07:23,087 --> 00:07:25,777
Those predators have to travel
farther, and those predators are

148
00:07:25,787 --> 00:07:28,903
dying because of it, and it's
going to change our ecosystems to a

149
00:07:28,903 --> 00:07:30,683
point where it's going to affect us.

150
00:07:30,757 --> 00:07:34,900
If we don't act now or tomorrow or
the day after or even yesterday,

151
00:07:34,967 --> 00:07:36,520
then we are in trouble in the future.

152
00:07:36,623 --> 00:07:39,603
It just makes sure that we are
going to see the effect every

153
00:07:39,603 --> 00:07:42,983
time we ignore something like
this sooner and sooner and sooner.

154
00:07:43,513 --> 00:07:46,537
But that's the message for today, is
like we have to figure out what we

155
00:07:46,537 --> 00:07:47,947
are going to do with this message.

156
00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,130
We have to make sure that our
political representatives figure out

157
00:07:52,140 --> 00:07:55,000
what to do with this message, and
we have to tell them what we want.

158
00:07:55,053 --> 00:07:56,143
We have to tell them what you want.

159
00:07:56,143 --> 00:07:59,073
If you're listening to this and you
want your government representative

160
00:07:59,083 --> 00:08:04,123
to change its mind or focus on the
environment and the economy together,

161
00:08:04,203 --> 00:08:06,733
then we're in for a better future,
and that's what we need to look at.

162
00:08:06,733 --> 00:08:09,083
So I'm not trying to say
which party to support.

163
00:08:09,233 --> 00:08:12,623
What I say is support environment
and economic policies together

164
00:08:12,653 --> 00:08:15,520
so that we can actually see a
better planet in the future.

165
00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:16,870
That's it for today's episode.

166
00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,100
Hit me up with any questions or
comments or anything like that.

167
00:08:19,177 --> 00:08:22,107
Social media site links
are in the show notes.

168
00:08:22,220 --> 00:08:25,420
Also in the show notes is a link
to support the work that I do here

169
00:08:25,420 --> 00:08:29,570
on the podcast, on YouTube, on
TikTok, on Instagram, and all the

170
00:08:29,580 --> 00:08:31,207
Facebook and all the social media.

171
00:08:31,260 --> 00:08:34,193
I put out a lot of content, and if
you wanna support that content, a few

172
00:08:34,193 --> 00:08:35,850
people ask me for links to support.

173
00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:37,370
You can do that at my Patreon.

174
00:08:37,530 --> 00:08:39,352
Go to speakupforblue.com/patreon.

175
00:08:40,577 --> 00:08:42,479
That's speakupforblue.com/patreon.

176
00:08:43,967 --> 00:08:46,623
I wanna thank you so much for
joining me on today's episode of

177
00:08:46,623 --> 00:08:48,003
the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

178
00:08:48,023 --> 00:08:49,243
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.

179
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:50,090
Have a great day.

180
00:08:50,090 --> 00:08:52,150
We'll talk to you next time,
and happy conservation.