Hood Canal acidifying - 0 views
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Unusually high acid readings were measured in the deep waters of southern Hood Canal, according to Richard Feeley, director of the Ocean Acidification Program at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Increased acidity appears to be caused by increased carbon dioxide working its way from the atmosphere into the ocean, as well as the decomposition of organic matter in local waters. “Our calculations suggest that ocean acidification can account for a significant part of the pH decrease in this region,” said Feeley, whose laboratory is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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A research team found that ocean acidification caused by climate change accounts for 24 to 49 percent of the increased acidity in Hood Canal relative to pre-industrial times. The remainder of the pH shift occurs as a result of decomposition of organic material. Ocean effects provide the greatest contribution — 49 percent of the change — in winter when the rate of decomposition slows.
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Increasing ocean acidity has been linked to the deaths of free-swimming oyster larvae at oyster hatcheries on the Oregon Coast, Newton said, and something similar may be happening at hatcheries on Hood Canal. Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish Farms, which operates an oyster hatchery on Dabob Bay, said oyster larvae production dropped by 60 percent in 2008 and 80 percent last year. It is too early to know how things will turn out this year, he said.
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