Watching the Ocean Before the Heat Arrives: Coordinated Marine Heatwave Monitoring for the 2026-27 El Niño
About this event
Marine heatwaves have removed kelp forests and seagrass meadows, caused mass coral bleaching, and triggered harmful algal blooms and fisheries closures. Global sea surface temperatures reached a record high in August 2026, and the 2026 to 27 El Niño is forecast to be very strong, raising the likelihood of marine heatwaves across several ocean basins. Most of what is known about heatwave impacts has been pieced together after the fact, from monitoring designed for other purposes. Forecasts now give weeks to months of warning, which makes it possible to start monitoring before an event.
Amanda Bates of the University of Victoria introduces a global protocol for at least one survey before and one after an event, each paired with a temperature record, so that results can be compared across locations and methods. Participation is open to researchers, managers, Indigenous knowledge holders, community scientists, and industry, and contributors keep control of their data. The work asks whether impacts scale with heat exposure, whether populations at the warm edge are most affected, and where refuges exist.
Organiser: The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation and OCTO
What to expect
- Introduction to the coordinated before-and-after monitoring protocol
- Building an international monitoring network ahead of the El Niño
- Plans for an in-person workshop in Perth, Australia, in 2027
- A dedicated special issue of the journal Biological Conservation
Date and time
3 December 2026
12:00 EST (09:00 PST, 17:00 UTC). End time not specified.
Location and format
Online (Zoom).
Registration