The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that Pacific Ocean waters off the West Coast are still warm, which means that marine animals like salmon, sea lion pups and auklets will have reduced food supply this year.

The federal agency focused on the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere submitted the reports this month to the Pacific Fishery Management Council. According to the report, sea-surface temperatures are record high and they will affect the productive ocean conditions. The report has observed a decline in the population of copepods, an important food source for young salmon.

The declining numbers of copepods could affect the population of salmon in the years ahead. According to the report, if the copepods population continues to decline, fewer of the young salmon will survive. John Stein, director of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, said, “We are seeing some major environmental shifts taking place that could affect the ecosystem for years to come”.

As per a new federal fisheries report, less productive conditions of Pacific oceans will also affect population of sea lion pups and seabirds. NOAA has presented the report on the warming Pacific in an annual report on the state of the waters off California.

In a statement, Cisco Werner, director of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, said that such conditions are surprising and nobody has seen them before. According to Werner, to solve the problem, scientists should consider the impact on ocean life as a whole.

According to the report, from last year, waters off Southern California and the Gulf of Alaska have turned warmer than usual. The warming water has been affecting energy-rich organisms that support the West Coast food chain, which is further affecting other sea mammals.