Once, natural events in Narragansett Bay occurred with the predictability of the tides: Thick ice clung to the shore in February.

Giant phytoplankton blooms tinted the water green by March. Striped bass began to move to warmer waters by mid-October. No longer.

Winter surfers off Narragansett Town Beach rarely have to slosh through frozen chunks anymore. Those blooms, which rained nutrients down to bottom-dwelling creatures, have all but disappeared. Fishermen regularly brag about catching striped bass in mid-November. Narragansett Bay‘s natural timing is out of sync.