Off the coast of California, a historically strong El Niño is unfolding on top of a record-breaking marine heatwave, pushing ocean temperatures to new heights. In addition to boosting sea levels and amplifying storm risks, all that extra heat is encouraging exotic species to pay the Golden State a visit.

In September, a woman walking with her family at Crystal Cove in Orange County spotted a venomous yellow-bellied sea snake. It was only the sixth confirmed sighting in California, and five of those washed up during El Niño years. Local fisherman Julius Cardines recently caught a longfinned bigeye—the first ever seen in the state—off the Venice Fishing Pier in Los Angeles. Other SoCal residents have reported sightings of whale sharks, olive ridley sea turtles, hammerhead sharks, oceanic manta rays, and pilot whales that rarely venture into these usually chilly waters.

The wave of non-native visitors is yet another sign of the profound impact El Niño is already having on California, and we’re still months away from its expected peak.

El Niño begins with a weakening of trade winds that pushes warm water from the western Pacific Ocean to the central and eastern tropical Pacific. Heightened water temperatures in this region pump huge amounts of heat and moisture into the atmosphere, altering weather patterns across the globe. But major changes take place beneath the ocean’s surface as well.

According to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, El Niño tends to reduce coastal upwelling—when warm surface water is replaced by cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean.

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