Update, January 15, 2020: Since this story was published in 2016, scientists have estimated that 1 million Common Murres died during this mass mortality event—the largest known die-off of a single bird species ever. The birds died from starvation after a long-lasting marine heat wave known as ‘the blob’ squeezed the ecosystem’s food supply. “We believe that the smoking gun for Common Murres—beyond the marine heat wave itself—was an ecosystem squeeze: fewer forage fish and smaller prey in general, at the same time that competition from big fish predators like walleye, pollock, and Pacific cod greatly increased,” says author Julia Parrish from the University of Washington. Marine heat waves are growing in scale and frequency with climate change. Read the study here. Anyone braving the cold beaches of Alaska in the last few weeks would be met with a strange sight—tens of thousands of Common Murres, bowling-pin-sized seabirds, have been washing ashore dead along the...