WITH the Pacific region hitting record-setting temperatures in the last few weeks, a new study from Canada shows the heat waves’ enormous impact on marine life: An estimated 1 billion sea creatures on the coast of Vancouver have died as a result of the heat, a researcher said.

But that number is likely to be much higher, said professor Christopher Harley from the University of British Columbia.

“I’ve been working in the Pacific Northwest for most of the past 25 years, and I have not seen anything like this here,” he said. “This is far more extensive than anything I’ve ever seen.”

Harley reaches his estimates by counting the number of sea creatures, mostly mussels, in a section that he said is representative of an entire beach.

“This is a preliminary estimate based on good data, but I’m honestly worried that it’s a substantial underestimate,” Harley said from a beach in British Columbia, where he continues to survey the casualties from the most recent heat wave.

Though heat waves have affected marine life in the past, Harley said temperatures reaching more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.78 degrees Celsius) like they did last weekend in the Pacific Northwest are “exceptionally rare.”

But with climate change, he’s seen estimates from other scientists that similar heat waves could start occurring once every five to 10 years.

But the overarching problem, marine biologists point out, is that the impact of climate change on the oceans is still treated as out of mind, out of sight.

That many sea creatures dying at once not only affects ocean life but terrestrial creatures as well — from birds who feed on sea life to humans running fisheries and consuming seafood.

(SD-Agencies)