September 18, 2014 — Temperatures in the waters of the Gulf of Alaska have been as high as five degrees Fahrenheit above average. Although fluctuation does occur naturally with the seasons, this particular increase is attributed to other factors.
El Nino is characterized by unusually warm temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts there’s a 65 percent chance of El Nino emerging in fall and early winter.
Research fishery biology with NOAA fisheries Joe Orsi says it’s a normal and natural occurrence to see changing water temperatures.
“What goes on in the Gulf of Alaska is you have a current that comes over from japan eastward and it strikes the west coast of North America by about 45 degrees around Vancouver Island and it splits. It has a southern branch called the California current and a northern branch called the Alaska coastal current. And that moves northward and that circulates counterclockwise into the Gulf of Alaska forming the Alaska Gyre. If you have anomaly warm water that’s in the southern part of these currents, it will work its way northward and spin its way into the gulf. And that’s what’s going on now.”
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