Wildfire smoke is beneficial to B.C.'s coastal waters, oceanographer says

While medical experts were warning British Columbians about the risk of inhaling fine particulate matter from the thick wildfire smoke that hung over much of the province during the last week of summer, marine experts were happy to see those same particulatesinfiltrating the Pacific Ocean.

According to B.C. oceanographerRichard Dewey, associate director of sciencewith Ocean Networks Canada, particulate matter from burning forests that ends up in the ocean acts as fertilizer, providing minerals and nutrients to phytoplanktonthat live near the surface and are the base of the ocean'sfood system.

Phytoplankton are a large varietyof aquaticmicrooganismsthat perform photosynthesis, just like land-based plantsdo.

They use energy from the sun and convert it into food for the entire food chain. This makes them the primary producers of biomass in the oceanspretty much all the edible carbon in the ocean comes from the action of these small creatures.

Dewey said the particulate matter, although harmful to respiratory systems, is predominantly organic carbon from burned vegetation and can contain minerals such as iron that help themicroscopic marine algae grow.

"Smoke in some sense would have contributed to a sort of fertilization of that top layer of the ocean," said Dewey Tuesday on CBC'sOn The Island."As far as the ocean is concerned, it is probably a net benefit."

He said the benefits may be bigger along the coast of the U.S., where wildfires have raged in Washington, Oregon and California this summer, and he will be checking in with colleagues south of the border in the coming weeks to see what those have been.

Deweysaid Ocean Networks Canada has sensors on BCFerries vessels and in about a week those sensors will show if the chlorophyll pigment in the water has increased,which would prove there has been phytoplankton growth.

To hear the complete interview withRichard Dewey on On The Island, tap the audio link below: