News Oceans

Species may swim thousands of kilometers to escape ocean heat waves

Nearby cool water patches are harder for fish, turtles and whales to find in tropical seas

a hammerhead shark swimming

Hammerhead sharks, which normally range near Baja California, Mexico, were spotted hundreds of kilometers farther north during an intense marine heat wave in the tropical Pacific Ocean in 2015, known as the Blob.

Michael Zeigler/iStock/Getty Images Plus

By Carolyn Gramling

- More than 2 years ago

When an intense heat wave strikes a patch of ocean, overheated marine animals may have to swim thousands of kilometers to find cooler waters, researchers report August 5 in Nature.