Monterey Bay breaks ocean temperature record

The cool water is what people are used to in the Monterey Bay but Wednesday, a record temperature was set. The buoy in the Monterey Bay hit 67.5 degrees Wednesday afternoon. That is the warmest since the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration began taking those buoy records in 1987.

Experts at the Monterey Bay aquarium explained to News Channel 5 that there is more oxygen in cooler water and that the warmer water will eventually affect the type of marine life that lives in the bay, specifically the plankton, sardines, and eventually, the whales

This all happens because during the summer and spring months, California receives winds from the north that push the warm water at the surface out to sea and that warm water gets filled in with the cooler water from underneath.

Now — that is, in the past week or so — that hasn’t been happening, which means the warm water is staying close to shore. Although this won’t have an immediate effect on the marine plants and wildlife, warmer water can change the animals that are attracted to the bay.

“I suspect this pattern may be fairly short lived and we’ll get some cooler water working its way back to the surface and every bodies back in business,” said Jim Covel of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.