"The Blob" is a large area of nutrient-poor, warm water that has appeared in the Northeast Pacific Ocean since the end of 2013. It covers an area of 1.5 million square kilometers across the Gulf of Alaska and has now reached the nearshore waters of Vancouver Island. The Blob is causing low nutrients, low biological productivity, and changes in currents, salinity, stratification, dissolved oxygen, and acidity. It is also linked to changes in the distributions, productivity, and abundances of marine species including plankton, fishes, mammals, and birds. The Blob is threatening to change marine habitats off the coast of British Columbia and Alaska and could further affect the pole-ward migration of marine life already occurring along the Pacific coast. Researchers are focusing on spatial vulnerability assessment, the search for 'climate refugia' areas of slower change, which can be protected or otherwise managed.