A swordfish washed ashore on Haida Gwaii, sign of warming B.C. waters
Nearly two-metre swordfish found on remote Haida Gwaii beach is only the third documented in B.C. waters, a rare signal of ocean warming.
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Filmmaker and outdoorsperson Quinn Barabash found a nearly two-metre swordfish washed ashore on the remote west coast of Haida Gwaii on September 27 — only the third documented sighting of the species in British Columbia waters.
Swordfish typically live in temperate and warmer tropical waters far south of the northern coast. The discovery comes as long-term ocean warming, combined with a developing El Niño event, is making B.C.'s waters more attractive to warm-water species. During the 2014–16 marine heatwave known as "the Blob," ocean sunfish, Humboldt squid and triggerfish appeared off the coast. More recently, tropical barracuda and great white sharks have been spotted.
A global study analyzing three decades of data across 1,246 species found that unusually high ocean temperatures and very low primary production can substantially increase the likelihood of extremely low fish catches. Two consecutive extreme temperature years increased that likelihood by 40 per cent globally. The North Pacific has warmed faster than any other ocean basin since 2013, and extremes are projected to grow more frequent and intense with climate change.
"It's one of those things that kind of breaks the barriers in your mind of what is possible and achievable out there," Barabash said of his discovery.
