Ri katak ro rej rōjañ armej bwe ren jab ṃōkaj in kōṃṃan aer pepe, bōtaab Pacific ej jino ukoktak. Scientists urge caution, but the Pacific is beginning to change.

Update: Kien eo an Yap eaar je meḷeḷe ko kōn an ek ko mej im an oktak kōḷar in dān eo ilo Juun, im tokālik juon ri jerbal an kien eo an FSM eaar kwaḷọk ñan aolep ke men eo eaar waḷọk ej ekkejel ippān El Niño. The government of Yap documented the fish deaths and discolored water in June, and a later FSM official publicly linked the event to El Niño.

Part 1: Ek ko Rej Mej ilo Lamotrek/Dead Fish on Lamotrek

Part 2: An Pacific Ukoktak ilo Jokāne/The Pacific’s Quiet Transformation

Part 3: Pojak Ñan Ta eo Emaroñ Itok/Preparing for What May Come

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Part 1 (Marshallese)

Al ej kab walōñtok ion lọjet ke ro rej jokwe ilo Aelōñ in Lamotrek raar jino loe juon men eo eḷap an kōṃṃan aer inepata.

Ek ko raar mej im epape ilo lọjet eo an aelōñ eo, im ajeded ilōñ. Juon lok juon.

Jet raar epape wōt ippān dān eo. Ṇo ko raar bōktok jet iaer ḷọk ñan tōrerein āne, ibwilijin in ujoj in lọjet im wōd ko raar rub. Ajri ro raar jitōñ ḷọk dān eo. Rūtto ro raar jutak ilo joko iaer iturin parijet. Eṃṃaan ro raar etetal itōrerein āne, ilo aer pukot uwaak ko—meñe, ilo ien eo, rejela ke eban wōr uwaak.

Ilo social media, juon likao jān Lamotrek ekar etetal iturin parijet im kōṃṃane jidik kōn jidik juon video in men eo.

“Wōrōr,” ekar ba nan e make.

Juon wōt naan ekar kwaḷọk joñan an armej ro ipelaakin āellon jidikdik eo bwilōñ im jab maroñ tōmak ta eo rar loe.

Lamotrek ejjab juon jikin eo men ko rekabwilonlon rej waḷọk ie im ejjeḷọk ejab jela kake.

Aelōñ eo jonan lap eo an ej juon square kilometer, im jejjo wōt bukwi armej rej jokwe ie, ro im rej mour jen lọjet eo aer. Mour eo an baaṃle ko ej pādpad wōt ioon ek ko ilo wōd, mā, iaraj im ni. Elōñ armej in aelōñ eo rej komman wōt im kōjparok kilen ejerakrōk eo jān etto, ilo aer kattu kin iju ko, ṇo ko, kōto ko im menin mour ko ilo lọjet kōn jeḷā eo eṃōj an eḷḷā jān juon epepen ñan bar juon.

Ijin, lọjet eo iloan aelōñ eo ej juon jikin eo aiboojoj ilo kalimjeke.

Ej jikin aer bōk ṃōñā. Ej iaḷ eo aer ñan ito-itak. Ej jikin ekkatak eo aer. Ej kein injuran eo an baaṃle ilo ien aikuj. Ñe ewōr juon men ejjab jiṃwe ilo dān eo, aolep armej rej kile.

Eñin unin an lok mej ek ko ekōṃṃan an armej inepata ilo ien eo wōt.

Ekar ke ettoon lọjet eo iloan aelōñ eo? Ekar ke eḷap an eddek im ajeeded algae ko rekauwōtata ilo dān eo, im kōṃṃan an baijin? Ekar ke oktak jidik wōt im dikḷọk joñan oxygen eo ilo dān? Ak juon men eo eḷapḷọk ke ekar jino waḷọk ipelaakin Pacific Ocean?

Ejjañin wōr ej jeḷā uwaak eo eṃool im alikkar.

Bōtaab kajjitōk kein rej waḷọk ilo juon ien eo eḷap an kōṃṃan ad kōṇaan jeḷā ta eo ej waḷọk.

Ipelaakin Pacific, ri katak ro rej lukkun lale ḷọk wōt juon El Niño eo ej kajoorḷọk, im rej kōtmāne bwe enaaj jelet mejatoto, joñan an wōt im wāwein lọjet eo ñan allōñ ko jinoin iiō eo tok. Meñe ejjañin wōr juon ri katak eaar kwaḷọk ke El Niño ej unin an ek ko mej ilo Lamotrek, an waḷọk men in ilo ien in eṃōj an kōṃṃan an armej ilo jukjukinpād ko ilo aelōñ inepata. Ejjeḷọk bwilōñ kōn aer inepata, kōnke eṃōj aer jeḷā jorāān ko kain oktak kein ilo mejatoto remaroñ bōktok.

Ñan ro ilo Micronesia, El Niño ej kin bar juon nuuj kōn mejatoto. Emaroñ kōṃṃan bwe tank in dān in wōt ko ren bok kobban ak ren ṃōrā. Bwe iaraj ko ren eṃṃan aer eddek ak ren ṃōrā im mej. Bwe ri eọñwōd ro ren bar itok kōn elōñ ek, ak ren jeplaaḷtok im ejjeḷọk kobban cooler ko aer. Bwe wōd ko ren mour im kajoor ñan aer maroñ wōnṃaanḷọk im kōjparok āne ko im rej atartar ioon er.

Ilo bar jet naan, El Niño ej jelet elōñḷọk jān mejatoto wōt. Ej jelet joñan in aolep ṃōttan mour ilo aelōñ ko.

Meḷeḷe ko jān Lamotrek raar ṃōkaj aer ajeeded ipelaakin Micronesia.

Ruphino Robert, juon armej jān Houk, aelōñ eo epaake Lamotrek ilo Northwest Region eo an Chuuk, ekar ba ke eaar roñ meḷeḷe ko āierḷọk jān ijoko jet.

“Satawal im Woleai rar bar ripoot kōn ejja men in,” ekar ba.

Robert, eo ej kiiō kijeek/kareelel etan ñan an jutak ikijjien aelōñ ko ilikin ilo region eo an, ekar ba ke elōñ armej in aelōñ rej kajjitōk ejja kajjitōk in:

Ta eo ej waḷọk ñan lọjet eo ad?

Bar juon ilo Facebook, John Patis, ekar kwaḷọk inepata eo ej ḷapḷọk ilo naan ko repidodo.

“Kōj aikuj juon kōmeḷeḷe,” ekar je. “Ek ko rej tutu aolep jikin, im reṃōj aer mej.”

Bōtaab ñan ri katak ro, juon kōmeḷeḷe ej aikuj pedped ioon kein kaṃool.

An ek ko ilo lọjet mej in lōñ emaroñ waḷọk ijoko otemjej ilo Iaḷ in kōn elōñ un ko.

Nañinmej. Ettoon. Oktak jidik wōt in joñan bwil ilo dān. An algae ko rekauwōtata eddek im ajeeded ilo dān. An dik joñan oxygen eo ej pād ilo dān. Meñe ej oktak ilo wāwein eo ej kōṃṃan an dān eo make ṃakūtkūt ilo lọjet eo iloan aelōñ, emaroñ jet iien kōṃṃan an ek ko mej ilo juon wōt jikin.

Ñe ejjeḷọk juon jerbal in etale eo eḷap ilo jikin eo—ekoba bōk sample in dān, joñe oxygen eo ilo dān, kōṃṃan kein etale ilo laboratory im etali ek ko jorāān—ejjeḷọk juon ri katak eo ej jerbal kōn eddo enaaj ba ke juon wōt men ej unin men eo eaar waḷọk ilo Lamotrek.

Eaorōk an ri katak ro jab ṃōkaj in kōṃṃan aer pepe.

Eḷap ad ekkā kōnono kōn ukoktak in mejatoto im El Niño, bwe ej wōr kauwōtata in ad ṃōkaj in rupe erro kōn jabdewōt men eo ekkāritok im ej waḷọk ilo peḷaakid, ṃokta jān an wōr kein kaṃool.

Eoktak wāwein jerbal an science. Ri katak ro rej jino kōn aer lali im kile men ko rej waḷọk. Tokālik rej kakobaiki meḷeḷe ko. Ālikin wōt aer teej im keidi kōmeḷeḷe ko rej maroñ kōṃṃan juon aer pepe kōn ta eo eaar waḷọk.

Ñan kiiō, ejjañin alikkar ta eo eaar waḷọk ilo Lamotrek.

Bōtaab men ko jejjab meḷeḷe kaki remaroñ kōṃṃan bwe jen jino kajjitōk kōn men ko reḷapḷọk.

Im ipelaakin Pacific Ocean, bar juon men ej jino waḷọk ilo jokāne—juon men eo tokālik emaroñ alikkar ke eḷapḷọk an aorōk jān an ek ko mej in lōñ ilo juon wōt jikin.

Pacific eo make ej jino ukoktak.

Kiiō, ilo kōmeḷeḷe in tok, jenaaj eṃṃakūt jān lọjet eo iloan Aelōñ in Lamotrek ñan Pacific Ocean eo eḷapḷọk. Jenaaj kōmeḷeḷeik wāwein an El Niño ejaak, unin an Micronesia iturilik ekkā an jinoin jelōte, im ta eo bwebwenato ej katakin kōj jān jorāān ko reḷḷap raar waḷọk ilo ien ko an El Niño ilo 1982–83, 1997–98 im 2015–16.

Kōmeḷeḷe in enaaj leḷọk ñan koṃ, ro rej riiti men in, kōmeḷeḷe ko jān science im iminene jān mour ke rej pād itulikin inepata eo ej ḷapḷọk rainin.

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Part 1 (English)

The sun had barely climbed above the horizon when residents of Lamotrek Atoll began noticing something deeply unsettling.

Fish were floating belly-up across the lagoon. One after another.

Some drifted gently with the tide. Others washed ashore among bits of seagrass and coral rubble. Children pointed toward the water. Elders stood quietly along the beach. Men walked the shoreline searching for answers that, at least for the moment, did not exist.

On social media, a local videographer slowly recorded the scene as he walked the beach.

“Damn,” he muttered almost under his breath.

The single word captured the disbelief felt across the tiny island. Lamotrek is not a place where unusual events go unnoticed.

Barely one square kilometer in size, the atoll is home to only a few hundred people whose lives remain intimately connected to the ocean. Families still rely heavily on reef fish, breadfruit, taro and coconuts. Many islanders continue to preserve traditional navigation, reading the stars, swells, winds and marine life with skills handed down through generations.

Here, the lagoon is more than beautiful scenery.

It is the pantry. The highway. The classroom. The family’s insurance policy. When something goes wrong in the water, everyone notices.

That is why the fish kill immediately sparked concern.

Was the lagoon polluted? Had a harmful algal bloom poisoned the water? Did oxygen levels suddenly collapse? Or was something much larger beginning to unfold across the Pacific Ocean?

No one yet has definitive answers.

But the questions have arrived at an intriguing moment.

Across the Pacific, scientists are closely monitoring a strengthening El Niño that is expected to influence weather, rainfall and ocean conditions well into next year. Although no scientist has linked the Lamotrek fish kill directly to El Niño, the timing has prompted understandable concern among island communities already familiar with the hardships such climate events can bring.

For Micronesia, El Niño is never simply another weather story. It can determine whether rainwater tanks remain full or run dry. Whether taro patches flourish or wither. Whether fishermen find abundant catches or return home with empty coolers. Whether coral reefs remain healthy enough to sustain the islands that depend upon them.

In other words, El Niño affects far more than weather. It touches nearly every part of island life.

The reports from Lamotrek quickly spread throughout Micronesia.

Ruphino Robert, an islander from neighboring Houk in Chuuk’s Northwest Region, said similar reports had reached him from elsewhere.

“Satawal and Woleai reported the same thing,” he said.

Robert, who is currently seeking election to represent his outer-island region, said many islanders were asking the same question:

What is happening to our ocean?

Another Facebook user, John Patis, expressed the growing concern in simple language.

“We need an explanation,” he wrote. “Fish are floating everywhere, dead.”

For scientists, however, explanations require evidence.

Marine fish kills occur around the world for many reasons.

Disease. Pollution. Sudden changes in water temperature. Harmful algal blooms. Low dissolved oxygen. Even natural shifts in lagoon circulation can occasionally produce localized fish deaths.

Without detailed field investigations—including water samples, oxygen measurements, laboratory testing and examinations of affected fish—no responsible scientist would attribute the Lamotrek incident to any single cause.

That caution is important.

Climate change and El Niño have become so familiar in public discussion that almost every unusual environmental event risks being blamed on them before the evidence is available.

Science works differently. Scientists begin with observations. Then they gather data. Only after testing competing explanations do they reach conclusions.

For now, Lamotrek remains a mystery. Yet mysteries have a way of drawing attention to larger questions.

And across the Pacific Ocean, another story is quietly unfolding—one that may prove far more significant than a single fish kill.

The Pacific itself is beginning to change.

Now, in the next installment, we’ll move from Lamotrek’s lagoon to the wider Pacific Ocean, explaining how El Niño forms, why western Micronesia often feels its effects first, and what history teaches us from the devastating 1982–83, 1997–98, and 2015–16 events.

That section will give you, the readers, the scientific and historical context behind today’s growing concern.