Half a million mussels cooked to death at a New Zealand beach

https://www.businessinsider.com/video-photos-mussels-cook-to-death-new-zealand-beach-2020-2

Rosie Perper
Feb 15, 2020, 2:15 AM

Hundreds of thousands of mussels cooked to death in New Zealand due to rising temperatures in New Zealand's oceans.

New Zealand resident Brandon Ferguson posted a video on Facebook from Maunganui Bluff Beach, located on the country's North Island, showing hundreds-of-thousands of dead mussels that had washed up on the shore.

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Ferguson said that he had witnessed this type of event on the same beach in the past, with different types of shellfish washing up dead along the shores. He blamed rising temperatures and warming sea waters for the phenomena.

"It has happened in the past due to warm water temperatures, low mid-day tides, and high pressures," he said.

A 2019 report from the New Zealand government supports Ferguson's theory — climate change has been warming sea temperatures, devastating the country's native marine plants, animals and habitats.

According to the report, between 1981 and 2018, overall sea-surface temperatures across New Zealand's four oceanic regions, including Chatham Rise, the Tasman Sea, subtropical, and subantarctic increased between 0.1 and 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.

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According to the report, between 1981 and 2018, overall sea-surface temperatures across New Zealand's four oceanic regions, including Chatham Rise, the Tasman Sea, subtropical, and subantarctic increased between 0.1 and 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.

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"It's getting worse and worse every year," he told Business Insider. "At times like this we should wake up and start respecting these places and pay attention to what is happening before we lose our 'taonga' [a Māori word meaning 'treasure'] for good."

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