LEO Network

About the LEO Network
The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
Continue

Observations

Leopard or Giant Garden Slug (Limax maximus) Found
Leopard Slug Found
Sand Point, Alaska, United States

Extremely High PSP Levels
Extremely high PSP levels
Sand Point, Alaska, United States

Recreational Razor Clam Fishery Closed in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties
Klamath, California, United States

Black or perhapsTail-dropper Slug
Invasive Black Slug
Goodnews Bay, Alaska, United States

Thousands of Velella (by-the-wind sailors) Washed Up In Southeast AK
Sitka, Alaska, United States

West Coast Harmful Algal Bloom
Over the past few months, a massive toxic bloom of the marine diatom *Pseudo-nitzschia*, stretching from central California to the Alaska Peninsula, has resulted in significant impacts to coastal resources and marine life. NOAA has been working closely with federal, state, tribal, academic, and other partners to respond to this unprecedented harmful algal bloom (HAB).
Pacific Ocean, Northern to East Coasts
National Ocean Service (NOAA)

Marine Mussels Clean of PSP (Toxins)
Declining after years elevated.
Klamath, California, United States

Sand Point's Unsafe PSP Toxin Levels
Unusually high PSP toxin levels making shellfish unsafe to eat.
Sand Point, Alaska, United States

Sea Pens (Pennatulacea), Peanut Worms (Sipuncula) and Sea Cucumbers (P. californicu)
Interesting Marine Invertebrates
Yakutat, Alaska, United States

Dead Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) and Starfish (Phylum: Echinodermata)
Dead sea otter and star fish
Prince of Wales Islands, Alaska, United States

Blue Sail (Velella) Jellyfish
Blue Sail Jellyfish
Seldovia, Alaska, United States

Crayfish invade Kodiak waters
Alex Hughes is a Fish and Game technician who volunteers with KSWCD. He said based on their studies at the Buskin river, crayfish are successfully breeding. Crayfish are originally from the Pacific Northwest and as with many invasive species, it’s anyone’s guess how they got to Kodiak.
Kodiak, Alaska, United States
KTOO

Unusual Mussel (Mytilus californianus) Species
Unusual Mussel Species
Unalaska, Alaska, United States

Arribo de langostas en la playa de Puerto de Progreso, Yucatán
Chelem, Yucatán, Mexico

Starfish Wasting Disease
Near MacDonald Spit, southern end of the Kenai Peninsula.
Seldovia, Alaska, United States

Starfish Wasting Disease
A starfish that did not appear healthy.
Kake, Alaska, United States

Jellyfish Bloom
Jellyfish bloom
Toksook Bay, Alaska, United States

Ocean 'blob' brings bad fish food to B.C. waters
The so-called 'warm blob' of water in the North Pacific has brought unusual plankton, which lack the nutrients wild salmon and other marine animals count on.
Northeast Pacific Ocean
CBC News

Scientists may have solved 2011’s mysterious marine die-off along the Pacific coast
Scientists first caught on to the strange event when they found thousands of purple sea urchins and other organisms dead in their laboratory tanks.
Northern Pacific Coast
Washington Post

Velella en Isla San Martín

The Blob: Why warmer oceans are a big concern
Warm water threatens marine habitats off the coast of BC
Northeast Pacific Ocean
Sooke News Mirror

The warm ‘blob’ in Canada’s Pacific Ocean
Last year, 2014, was the hottest year ever recorded on Earth. Unlike other worldwide problems from which Canadians might feel relatively safe and isolated, but Canada is actually ground zero of global climate.
Gulf of Alaska / Northeast Pacific
Times Colonist

High PSP in Clams
High PSP in clams - Sand Point, Alaska, USA

High PSP in Clams
High PSP level in Sand Point, Alaska

Victoria Harbour 2: Contaminants in Sediment and Mussels
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Early earthworm
Earthworm found while cleaning yard
Haines, Alaska, USA

PSP High in Clams
The paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) results for Sand Point, Alaska (butter clams collected 1/5/2015) had PSP toxin levels of 112 micrograms/100 grams.

High PSP in Clams
High PSP in clams

Lions Mane Jellyfish Sighting
11-20-14 Unusual jellyfish - Togiak, Alaska, USA
Togiak, Alaska, Unites States
Kristin Cieciel, Aeshia Upton, Brian Abraham

Jellyfish Bloom
11-14-14 Jellyfish bloom Haines, Alaska, USA
Haines, Alaska, United States

Mollusks in Moose (Alces alces) Gut
11-29-14 Mollusks in moose gut - Egegik, Alaska, USA
Egegik, Alaska, United States

Unusual species in Alaska waters indicate parts of Pacific warming dramatically
Hinchenbrook Entrance, Alaska
Alaska Dispatch News

Amber Snail
These ladies found a snail that they had never seen before and brought them.
Seldovia, Alaska, United States

Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) Sighted at Possession Point, Southern Vancouver Islan
Sooke, British Columbia, Canada

Northern Sea Nettle Jellyfish Die-Off
Northern sea nettle jellyfish die-off

Crab larvae wash ashore
7-29-14 Crab larvae wash ashore - Port Graham, Alaska, USA
Port Graham, Alaska

Spawning Marine Worms
Spawning marine Pileworms observed along shoreline.
Nikolski, Alaska, United States

High PSP Levels in Clams
4-30-14 High PSP levels in clams - King Cove, Alaska, USA
King Cove, Alaska, United States

Ocean acidity wipes out 10 million scallops near Qualicum Beach
Ten million scallops that have died in the waters near Qualicum Beach due to rising ocean acidity are the latest victims in a series of marine die-offs that have plagued the West Coast for 10 years. . .
Island Scallops Ltd., Vancouver Island, Canada
Times Colonist

Evidence of Sea Star Wasting Disease
Laguna Beach, California, United States

High PSP Levels in Clams
High PSP levels in clams near the end of the Aleutian Peninsula, Alaska.
King Cove, Alaska, United States

Persistent High PSP Levels
Persistently high levels of PSP recorded in the Shumagin Islands.

High PSP levels in clams
11-7-13 High PSP levels in clams - King Cove, Alaska, USA
King Cove, Alaska, Unites States

Krill Die-off
11-1-13 Krill die-off - Metlakatla, Alaska, USA
Metlakatla, Alaska, United States

Mussel Roe Fouls Fishing Gear
Salmon and crab gear seeing an incredible increase in mussel roe and slime.
Unalakleet, Alaska, United States

Tadpole Shrimp at Swimming Hole
7-26-13 Tadpole shrimp at swimming hole
Russian Mission, Alaska, United States

Leopard Slug (Limax maximus)
For a couple years, Sand Point residents have observed an increasing number of the non-native leopard slug.

Poor Sea Ice - Our Sea Garden
The sea is our garden for food and other things.
Wales, Alaska, United States

PSP Levels Rising
5-1-13 PSP levels rising - Old Harbor, Alaska, USA
Old Harbor, Alaska, United States

Jumbo Flying Squid Pile Up On Calif. Beach
Rio Del Mar, California, United States
ABC News

Hundreds of Humboldt squid wash up on Aptos area beaches
Rio Del Mar, California, United States
Santa Cruz Sentinel

Barnacle decline
7-3-12 Barnacle decline - McDonald Spit, Alaska, USA
McDonald Spit, Alaska, USA

Barnacles Declining
3-9-12 Barnacles declining - Nanwalek, Alaska, USA
Nanwalek, Alaska, USA

Shell shock - thousands of Ninilchik clams wash up on beach in unusual die-off
A winter storm lashed the sandy beaches at the mouth of the Ninilchik River with ferocious waves, powerful enough to uproot thousands of razor clams.
Ninilchik, Alaska, United States
Redoubt Reporter

Squid invasion hitting Oregon coast and scientists are concerned, but could there be a silver lining?
Newport, Oregon, United States
OregonLive.com

Giant squid caught in West Seattle
Seacrest Boathouse Pier, West Seattle, Washington, United States
King 5 News

Jumbo squid invade San Diego shores, spook divers
La Jolla, California, United States
The Christian Science Monitor

Crayfish - Invaders from the Bayou
Of all of the aquatic animals that could be collected in a gillnet on the Kenai River, crawfish are some of the least likely. Why? Because they do not naturally occur in the Kenai River or any other river in Alaska. Unfortunately, crawfish have been collected from the lower Kenai River twice in the last four years, and both times they were leftovers from someone’s dinner.
Kenai, Alaska, United States
Alaska Fish and Wildlife News

The Seattle Times: Sports: Notebook: Humboldt squid make rare appearance here
Washington's outer coast
Seattle Times

Jumbo squid is captured in unfamiliar waters
Sitka, Alaska
msnbc.com

Great Barrier Reef authority confirms unprecedented sixth mass coral bleaching event
Aerial surveys show almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat, prompting scientists to call for urgent action on climate crisis.
Apple News

East Cook Inlet clamming to remain closed again this summer as population still lags
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game found an unexpectedly low number of clams during final surveying, but the agency still plans to monitor them in support of perhaps opening the fishery in years to come.
Clam Gulch, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

New Zealand sea sponge populations 'dying by the millions' due to climate change
Shocking images have emerged from New Zealand showing millions of once-velvety brown sea sponges bleached bone white, the worst mass bleaching event of its type ever recorded, marine scientists say.
New Zealand
CNN

Apparent native freshwater mussel mortality event

Holy crab! Rare, weirdly colored crustaceans found in Norton Sound
The red king crab that wasn't red appeared in Nome on Fourth of July.
Nome, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Invasive slug species slimes into city
The European black slug was first introduced into Alaska in the 1980s in Cordova, Slowik said. It eventually made its way to Juneau and Ketchikan, likely hitching a ride on fishing gear, and is now prevalent across Southeast. A few years ago, people started seeing the slug in Whittier and Girdwood.

New Invasive Species Detected in Alaska
Last summer while scoping for marine invasive species we found the invasive colonial tunicate, Didemnum vexillum also know as marine vomit.
Sitka, Alaska, United States
ADFG News

Corals in peril at a popular Hawaiian tourist destination due to global climate change
Researchers from the Coral Reef Ecology Lab at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology documented the third global bleaching event as it occurred from 2014 to 2016 at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (HBNP) on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i. Their findings, published in the international journal PeerJ, show that temperature is by far the most influential factor in coral bleaching at this well-managed location where corals, fish, and all other organisms are protected.
Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Hawaii, United States
EurekAlert!

Baby lobster numbers low off New England as waters warm
New data show the population of baby lobsters off New England is below average, raising concerns about the size of future commercial hauls of the valuable crustaceans as waters warm.
Gulf of Maine
Press Herald

Sounding the alarm about the lobster population: We must reverse the trend now
The lobster population along the Norwegian coast is much worse off than first thought. New research shows a huge decline.
Arendal, Agder, Norway
NRK

Crabbers catch fewer crab, see lower price
Summer commercial Dungeness crabbing was well below average in Lynn Canal, with fishermen hauling in an estimated 105,000 pounds this year compared
Haines, Alaska, United States
Chilkat Valley News

Christchurch beach turns pink after millions of krill left high and dry by the tide
Otago University's Marine Science Professor Steve King said the summer stranding is nothing to be alarmed about. "It's a natural cycle of the pelagic food where climate change is happening but it is mostly manifested in the warm water conditions we are seeing right now."
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
NZ Herald

Tropical fish follow warmer waters south, devouring kelp forests
They are brightly coloured, beautiful and hungry — tropical fish and sea urchins are thriving in southern waters warmed by climate change. But now they are devastating kelp forests already knocked around by marine heatwaves.
southern Australia
ABC News

Basking Sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) Return to Monterey Bay
Moss Landing, California, United States

Shellfish growers in Northwest’s oyster capital want ‘blitz’ against invasive green crabs
Shellfish growers in Willapa Bay in southwest Washington, the self-styled "Oyster Capital of the World," are alarmed by an invasion of potentially destructive nonnative European green crabs. Some are asking for an all-out trapping offensive to corral the invasive species.
Ocean Park, Washington, United States
opb

Support

Observation Template