Scientists warn ‘Super El Niño’ could be unprecedented as sharks move into unusual waters
Scientists have warned that an El Niño event could be 'unprecedented', with footage emerging of sharks being spotted in an unexpected location.
El Niño is part of the ENSO cycle which affects the warming and cooling of the Pacific Ocean, with La Niña being the cooling phase and El Niño the warming phase.
A rising surface temperature of the Pacific can have a big impact on weather around the world, though the precise impact depends on geographical location and can range from drought and wildfire to floods and hurricanes.
This El Niño event is predicted to be of such a magnitude that many have taken to referring to it as a 'Super El Niño', though this isn't an official term, as a way to mark out its severity. Scientists have said that it is sufficient to describe the El Niño as 'very strong' according to their categorisation system which ranges from 'weak' to 'very strong', USA Today reports.
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Signs of the EL Niño, which started in June and is expected to last until 2027, have already started appearing, including an impact on the natural world and the behavior of animals.
This has included not one but two species of shark which are reportedly moving in ways they wouldn't normally be expected or are anticipated to move this way.
Firstly, there have been reports that Great White Sharks, or White Shark to use its proper name as there is no 'Lesser White Shark', are expected to be moving into the waters off Southern California as the warm water from the El Niño takes effect.
But it was an appearance off Malibu Pier in California which has surprised many on the internet, and it wasn't a White Shark which appeared, but the unmistakable outline of a Hammerhead.
Hammerheads usually prefer warmer waters than those off the coast of Southern California, but the waters are currently warmer than usual due to a variety of factors, including El Niño but also rising temperatures from climate change.
Brendan Talwar is a shark specialist, how's that for a cool job, at the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the sighting.
“It’s uncommon but not impossible," he said. "If someone had asked at the beginning of this summer what shark species we should expect... I would’ve definitely said hammerheads."
The sighting comes as scientists at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), warn of several signs of the El Niño being particularly strong.
Climate scientist Michael Mann warned that the event is likely to be historically powerful, saying: "It does look like it will potentially be the largest El Niño event on record."
Meanwhile recently retired NOAA senior scientist Michael McPhaden, who spent over 40 years studying EL Niño, said that this event is event is likely to be historically powerful.
"There have been three what we would call extreme El Niño events in the past 50 years, in 1982-83, 1997-98 and 2015-16," he said. "This event we'll get to in 2026-27 will rival those, if not exceed those, in magnitude."
Topics: Weather, World News, Science, Shark
Kit Roberts