Invasion of non-native coastal sea squirts

[CACAdmin]

From this morning's Province newspaper:

Invasion of coastal sea squirts like a bad horror movie (http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=ade4ed67-405b-4e5e-b1a2-582206c4c777)

Although we have sea squirts in our waters, these are a non-native species and have no known predators.

Anyone sighting them is asked to call 1-888-356-7525 or email aispacific@pac.dfompo.gc.ca

[Soggybottom]

Given their jellyfish-like appearance, I wonder if they are multiplying for the same reasons as jellyfish. The dvd extras part of the Al Gore movie "An Inconvenient Truth" linked the surging numbers of jellyfish in many parts of the oceans to acidifying water. I hope I don't butcher the point too badly in trying to summarize:

A significant fraction of the increasing amount of CO2 we put into the atmosphere is absorbed into the ocean. As many aquarists know, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbonic acid. This is leading to the pH of the entire ocean slightly and slowly dropping. Very bad for corals, crustaceans, and anything with a shell, it's harder for an animal to form a shell in acidic water. Apparently very good for jellyfish though, they are creating havoc wrecking fishing nets and gooing up beaches.