Species by the dozen moved north during marine heatwaves

This Sept. 12, 2015, photo provided by Jacqueline Sones shows a Janolus Nudibranch in Bodega Harbor, Calif. A new study reports that dozens of warm-weather species of sea slugs, jellyfish and other marine life migrated into the northern California region over an unusually long two-year period of severe heatwaves. The University of California, Davis report is to be published Tuesday, March 12, 2019, in Scientific Reports. (Jacqueline Sones via AP)

SAN FRANCISCO — A new study reports that dozens of warm-weather species of sea slugs, jellyfish and other marine life migrated into the Northern California region over an unusually long two-year period of severe heatwaves.

The University of California, Davis report studying heatwaves in 2014-2016 is to be published Tuesday in Scientific Reports.

Eric Sanford, lead author of the study and UC Davis professor, said the migration provides a glimpse of what the Northern California coast might look like in the future.

The study identified 67 species usually found in Southern California and Mexico waters in Northern California and through the Pacific Northwest. Thirty-seven of those species set records in how far they had travelled north.

Not all the species stayed, but some have, including a sea slug that preys on other sea slugs.

Janie Har, The Associated Press