December 12, 2024 — The Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Island waters were on the warm side for a good part of the year. In fact, winter sea surface temperatures in 2023–2024 were among the 10 warmest years since 1900 in the Aleutians. The eastern Bering Sea appears to be in a period of transition as it continues to recover from record heatwave conditions (2014–2021).
This year’s Ecosystem Status Reports provide a comprehensive look at 2024 conditions and trends over time (whether some indicators were increasing or decreasing) for key indicators. Scientists use these indicators to monitor Alaska marine ecosystem health.
“We look at numerous indicators that tell us about the ocean environment, the animals that live there, what they’re eating, who is eating them and how healthy they all are. That includes everything from water temperature, pH, ocean currents, and weather patterns to abundance of plankton, fish, crabs, seabirds, marine mammals and other species,” said Bridget Ferriss, author of the Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Status Report.