Question

Scientists from NOAA monitored the movement of summer flounder in the Atlantic Ocean and found that they migrate along the Eastern coast from Virginia in the winter to Maine in the summer. The graph below shows average water temperature at three monitoring stations from 1968 to 2007. Summer flounder are best adapted to water temperatures around 17°C to 18°C in the summer months. Predict what would happen to populations of summer flounder residing around Maine if water temperatures there continue.

Answer 1

As we can see from the graph, the average temperatures in Maine have started to sharply decline after the year 2000. If this trend continues, we should expect to see the summer flounder that residents in Maine to begin migrating to areas with warmer water, like the ones in Virginia or Massachusetts