Report suggests warm ocean temperatures broke records in parts of Maritimes
HALIFAX — A federal report suggests some Maritime waters were warmer than normal last year, including record-breaking temperatures at the bottom of the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Fisheries scientist David Hebert said parts of the Scotian Shelf increased by up to 3 C in 2016, which he said is consistent with an upward trend in temperatures in some parts of the ocean over the past decade.
“Water temperatures were well above normal throughout the region,” said Hebert, who works at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax. “The Nova Scotia-area was way above normal.”
Hebert, who contributed to the federal report, said the annual assessment compiles the findings of ocean researchers from the Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Gulf and Maritime regions to provide a “high-level” portrait of Canada’s eastern waters.