Just as on land, marine temperatures can go through extreme periods. Anomalous extremes can occur at any time of year, but when the temperatures are sufficiently higher than normal for five days or more, this constitutes a heatwave. Heatwaves can have a profound affect on marine life.

Satellites produce daily sea surface temperature (SST) values of the ocean's surface at a high spatial resolution (five square kilometres). Buoys measure SST at a single location in time at a high temporal resolution (minutes to hours). Together, these measurements can be used to track the state of the ocean over time and warn us of forming marine heatwaves. The more extreme the anomalous conditions, the more severe the heatwave category.

To learn more about marine heatwaves on British Columbia's coastline, read A Fever on Canada’s Pacific Coast.

Satellite data source: Coral Reef Watch. Buoy data source: CIOOS Pacific.