Bizarre sea-life visitors arrive with North Pacific’s historic warmth

Species migration: The waters of the Pacific Ocean have been unusually warm this year. Fishermen and scientists are reporting occurrences of warm-water species in cold water, such as the sighting of the ocean sunfish in Alaska. — TNS

Ocean waters off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, Canada and Alaska appear this year to be warmer than they’ve ever been, prompting the arrival of some very unusual visitors.

When scientists on a boat in the Gulf of Alaska pulled their net in August, they saw something stunning: a live ocean sunfish. Mostly found in the tropics or temperate waters, these giant 2m-long snub-bodied creatures are incredibly rare in Alaska. And that was just the start.