Oct 14, 2019

A new Blob (aka marine heat wave) along our coast? See what Nick Bond has to say about it

In the fall of 2014, Nick Bond—research scientist at JISAO and Washington State’s Climatologist—dubbed a patch of unusually warm water off the North American coast ‘The Blob’. The warmer temperatures went on to wreak havoc in marine environments over the following year. Now, another slug of warm water has appeared, this time stretching all the way to Hawaii. We sat down with Bond to talk about this new Blob—which is an anomaly in the ocean more commonly referred to as a marine heat wave—and what we might expect.

Inspired by Northern clingfish, researchers make a better suction cup

The finger-sized Northern clingfish employs one of the best suction cups in the world. A small disk on its belly can attach to wet, slimy, even rough surfaces and hold up to 230 times its own body weight. A University of Washington team inspired by the clingfish’s suction power set out to develop an artificial suction cup that borrows from nature’s design.

Fish micronutrients ‘slipping through the hands’ of malnourished people

Millions of people are suffering from malnutrition despite some of the most nutritious fish species in the world being caught near their homes, according to new research published Sept. 25 in Nature. Children in many tropical coastal areas are particularly vulnerable and could see significant health improvements if just a fraction of the fish caught nearby was diverted into their diets.

Two UW ice researchers to participate in year-long drift across Arctic Ocean

The Polarstern in Antarctica in 2013, on a previous expedition.

When the German icebreaker Polarstern leaves Norway’s coast on Sept. 20, it will embark on a year-long drift across the Arctic Ocean. Two University of Washington researchers are among scientists from 17 nations who will study climate change from a unique floating research platform. The Arctic has warmed dramatically over recent decades, but observations are scarce during the ice-covered winter. The MOSAiC expedition, or Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, will enclose the research icebreaker Polarstern in sea ice for a year, creating a drifting research platform that will pass near the North Pole.

Kīlauea lava fuels phytoplankton bloom in the North Pacific Ocean

A new study co-authored by University of Washington researchers examines the effects of molten lava that flowed into the ocean as the result of the eruption of Kilauea volcano in Hawai’i from April to August 2018. UW School of Oceanography professors Virginia Armbrust and Anitra Ingalls found phytoplankton growth in the typically nutrient-poor Pacific, stimulated by high concentrations of nutrients from the lava.

Read the full study »