Warmer Temperatures Cause Population Explosion of Bright Pink Sea Slugs in California

It looks like our seas may be getting a bit slimier, thanks to warming conditions. Scientists have examined skyrocketing sea slug populations and have found that they may be linked to warming oceans.

The sea slugs in question are the bright pink, inch-long Okenia rosacea. After warmer temperatures, there was a population explosion of these slugs in the tide pools along California's central and northern coastline.

In order to better understand whether it was indeed warmer temperatures that caused this population boom, the researchers carefully tracked the atypical sea slug distribution. So far, they've reported densities in the dozens per square meter in tide pools that range from San Luis Obispo to Humboldt Counties. These pink sea slugs haven't appeared so far north in such numbers since the warmer-than-usual years of 1998 and 1983.

In fact, the researchers were able to look at past data to link widespread nudibranch (sea slug) blooms with periods of warming ocean temperatures. Currently, California is seeing prime conditions for these slugs.

"While we are thrilled to see this beautiful bloom of normally-rare nudibranchs, we are concerned about the long term consequences of our changing coastal environment," said Terry Gosliner, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our current climate conditions are great for some of my favorite slugs, but we can't ignore that warming seas mean less food for sea birds, and adverse impacts for all marine ecosystems. California's unique marine life can't always adapt to so much instability."

The findings reveal that as climate conditions change, ecosystems will also change. Warmer temperatures may actually spur the growth of some species, while causing other species to decline and eventually disappear.

The findings are published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography.

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