Oregon Public Broadcasting

In Seattle Monday, scientists announced that the ocean waters off the West Coast and in Puget Sound are becoming more acidic.  The newly published findings coincide with the deployment of new monitoring instruments offshore.  Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

Oceanographers with the federal government and the University of Washington surmise seawater is absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That makes the waters more acidic or corrosive. 

That's bad news for shellfish survival and food that salmon eat. Imagine your skeleton dissolving while you're alive.

Dick Feeley is the lead study author from the federal Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.

Dick Feeley: "We found out the shellfish hatcheries along our coast are finding it is very difficult for them to continue to produce their oyster larvae and for many their production was decreasing quite rapidly over the past five years."

Feeley is working on the beginnings of an ocean acidification early warning system. The federal science agency NOAA and West Coast universities are deploying five offshore buoys this summer. 

The growing monitoring network could tell oyster growers when to take measures to protect their stock.