YouTube’s favorite Mainers show how climate change is stressing out lobsters

From the makers of such modern classics as “SMELT’N” and “Smoke Show” comes this slightly more sober video, which explains how climate change could drive Maine’s lobster population north.

O’Chang Comics teamed up with the Maine Sea Grant Program at the University of Maine to produce this short video that explains how rising sea temperatures in southern New England have already caused lobster populations there to plunge.

The Gulf of Maine’s temperature rose about .05 degrees per year from 1982 to 2004 — but that has jumped to about a half a degree per year since, according to the video.

Warmer water makes it harder for lobsters to breathe, and makes them more susceptible to diseases and predators like black sea bass.

“If trends continue, even the iconic Maine lobster may be forced to make the trek further north, or face extinction,” says narrator Atom O’Chang.

The creators based the video on this 2015 University of Maine climate report.

O’Chang Comics previously produced this video on “voracious army” of green crabs that have preyed on the state’s soft-shell clams.

Dan MacLeod

About Dan MacLeod

Dan MacLeod is the managing editor of the Bangor Daily News. He's an Orland native who moved to Portland in 2002 and now lives in Unity. He's been a journalist since 2008, and previously worked for the New York Post and the Brooklyn Paper.