Harley said while the ecosystem is showing promising signs of resilience
it is now uniquely vulnerable to the dangers of another heat dome. And the collapse of even one population has cascading effects on others. For example, many of the rocks usually slicked green and brown with seaweed are now bare, leaving the baby barnacles exposed to the sun.
"Once all the species are back, we know that a diverse ecosystem is more resistant to that sort of insult. But if you get another big disturbance, another big heat wave before the ecosystem has a chance to recover, that can actually do more damage than it would have otherwise," said Harley.
Harley and his students have studied the coastlines from Victoria to Sooke and White Rock, and as far north as Bamfield, Puget Sound, and the Strait of Georgia. They measure the number of sea creatures repopulating by conducting random quadrant searches — laying down a square and counting the creatures that fall inside it, then scaling up to estimate mortality.
Early findings indicate species with mobility had a higher survival rate, thanks to their ability to find shade and cooler enclaves. But those anchored to rocks, like starfish and shellfish, fared worse. Barnacles and mussels planted on the north sides of rocks often survived, while those on the south side of the rock are, in many places, entirely gone.
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