That Feels Nice

Central Coast divers these past few weeks may have noticed something different and unusual. It probably wasn’t something that hit you right away, but was perhaps a slow dawning. First you probably noticed your fingers or toes were not tingling with cold, or that your head felt a little too warm, and then maybe you considered the idea of diving without your gloves or hood. These factors would have caused you to look down at your computer and to see the temperature was a shocking 60-something degrees.

On July 23 the buoys in Monterey recorded the highest-ever ocean temperature in the time period since 1987 when records began being kept. The temperature was 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is crazy when the average temperature diving in Monterey is in the mid-50s. If you talk with fisherman you will find it is not uncommon to have warmer ocean temperatures a ways out in the bay because we have a warm surface current coming up from the south that passes by in deeper water, but the temperature closer to shore is always significantly colder. The change in water temperature close to shore has been attributed to the missing northwest winds that generate the cold-water upwelling. The winds push the warmer surface water away, which causes colder water to replace it. When these winds are not present the warm surface water does not move and is not replaced by colder water. I keep hearing these temperatures cannot last long and the winds will return soon, but it has been nearly a month now and last weekend divers reported temperatures at 63 degrees.

The warm water is nice for divers but the marine life is not used to these temperatures. Creatures that require a cold environment will not stick around very long if they can move to colder water that is closer to their normal natural environment. Animals that do not have the ability to travel will adapt or die, which is a scary proposition. The health of the ocean depends on the normal cycles and when they change for long period of time the animals cannot keep up. Personally, I love the warmer temperatures. I tend to get cold and it has been extremely nice the past couple of weeks to be able to do hour-long dives and not get cold at all, but this drastic change does not come without consequences.