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NEWS RELEASE New research has uncovered a change in behaviour of deep-sea fragile pink sea urchins off the south coast of Vancouver Island that is linked to climate change impacts including the “[Blob](https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/the-warm-blob-chills-out/)”, a marine heatwave that persisted in the Pacific Ocean off North America between 2013 to 2016. Researchers from the Memorial University, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and the University of Victoria (UVic) found pink sea urchins (*Strongylocentrotus fragilis*) have been moving up into shallower waters as food sources and oxygen levels at lower depths decline due to a warming ocean. The research team analyzed seven years of physicochemical and video imagery data (2013-2020) collected at Barkley Canyon Upper Slope within ONC’s [NEPTUNE observatory](https://www.oceannetworks.ca/observatories/physical-infrastructure/cabled-networks/), along with 14 years of Fisheries and Oceans Canada trawl surveys, covering a 760-square kilometre area in the northeast Pacific Ocean. The data from NEPTUNE’s Barkley Canyon Upper Slope platform (depth 396 metres) included video cameras, oxygen sensors, and tools that monitor water currents and water physical properties.

A new study published in the [*Marine Ecology Progress Series*](https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v748/p33-52/) highlights a resilient sea sponge’s response to its changing environment. The rare footage was captured by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) seafloor cameras off the BC coast for over four years, marking the longest continuous recording of these ancient but remarkably active animals in the wild. The baseball-sized sponge, nicknamed Belinda by the researchers, was recorded by an eight-camera array and scientific instruments deployed at Folger Pinnacle, a site within ONC’s NEPTUNE (North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments) subsea observatory off the British Columbia coast. Researchers at the University of Alberta, University of Victoria (UVic), and ONC, a UVic initiative, observed Belinda’s daily, yearly, and seasonal changes in size, shape and colour. The cameras were rolling for the sponge’s sometimes daily “sneeze-like” contractions; as it shrank prior to the winter hibernation; as well as during the marine heatwave ([aka the Blob](https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and-stories/stories/the-blob-blog-warm-northeast-pacific-ocean-conditions-continue-2016/)) in the Pacific Ocean off North America between 2013 to 2016. Long-term monitoring of sedentary animals like sponges is rare and the study provides pivotal insight into the impact of environmental conditions such as water quality and temperature, both of which are affected by climate, according to the research team.