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The Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County not only caused devastating damage to lives and property on land. It may also have affected marine ecosystems.
Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are collecting water samples from the Pacific Ocean, where ash from the fires coated the surface 100 miles offshore.
“We’re in a position to answer the question, ‘What does this mean for West Coast fisheries and the food webs that we all depend on?'” said NOAA Fisheries Principal Investigator for the study. said Nicolas Concha Saiz.
Samples are collected aboard the NOAAS Reuben Lasker. Researchers have been studying the levels of toxins in the water since this fire, like many others, destroyed more than 17,000 structures, along with chemicals and metals, as well as trees and brush.
Ash collected from the ‘Manta’ plankton net sampling the top 6 inches of the ocean. The ash initially floats on the surface, but quickly sinks when mixed with water. (Rasmus Swaerthorpe/Scripps Institution of Oceanography/NOAA)
“These fires introduce large amounts of toxic substances into the system, posing potentially significant threats to both humans and ecosystems,” said Julie Dynaske, project leader at Scripps Oceanography. . “We are not only sampling surface water, but also deeper layers, below 100 meters (330 feet) deep… How this material changes as it sinks, potentially containing toxic and other substances. We’re looking to see if the molecules leach out and what effect that has on the ecosystem.”
Researchers said the “urban ash” components of the Palisade and Eaton fires were unique in scale.
Examining Monterey Bay seawater after the 2020 lightning fires, scientists found that ash from burning forests acts as fertilizer for groups of algae, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“In contrast, given the source of the combustion materials in these Los Angeles fires, we would expect more ecotoxic effects,” said Scripps Oceanography doctoral student Dante Capone.
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