The Gulf of Maine Research Institute has identified several factors that have caused the swift warming of the gulf, one of which is that climate change is strengthening the Gulf Stream, and that brings warmer water northward.
The gulf's annual sea surface temperature last year was 51.5 degrees Fahrenheit (10.8 degrees Celsius), according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland.
The gulf's average annual sea surface temperatures have been warming at a rate of 0.84 degrees Fahrenheit per decade from 1982 to 2024, the report said — nearly triple the rate of the world's oceans.
Although last year was the gulf's 12th warmest year on record, it was down from the fifth warmest a year earlier, the report stated.
“The conditions seen in the Gulf of Maine were a departure from the record-setting temperatures seen elsewhere in the North Atlantic and across the world’s oceans,” the report said.
