The Blob” Is Back in the Pacific — And Scientists Are Watching It Closer Than Ever

Did you know a patch of ocean can get its own nickname? Meet “the Blob” — a massive stretch of unusually warm water that’s returned to the North Pacific, and researchers have been tracking it in real time since it first showed up.

The original Blob formed between 2013 and 2016 and reshaped how scientists think about marine heatwaves — it reorganized food webs, shifted where fish and whales showed up, and triggered algae blooms up and down the West Coast. When ocean temperatures started climbing again this year, researchers at NOAA recognized the signature almost immediately and started monitoring it closely.

What’s actually happening: A stubborn area of high atmospheric pressure has parked itself over the North Pacific, calming the winds that normally stir and cool the surface water. Without that mixing, heat builds up. NOAA scientists have been comparing satellite and buoy data against the 2013–2016 event since the earliest signs appeared, giving researchers a head start most past heatwaves never had.

The upside: Because of the original Blob, ocean scientists now have years of hard-won knowledge about exactly what to watch for — and the tools to watch it with. Marine heatwave tracking has become dramatically more sophisticated, with NOAA’s California Current monitoring system now flagging these events early enough for fisheries managers, aquariums, and coastal communities to prepare and adapt in ways nobody could back in 2013.

The ocean still throws curveballs. The difference now is that we’re finally getting good at catching them.

Sources: NOAA’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment