"Tens of thousands of mussels were found dead along the coastline after an extreme heat wave pushed temperatures as high as 121°F, forcing shells open and leaving innards dried out or picked over by scavengers; although mussels normally survive high temperatures by holding water inside their shells and living in protective clusters, the coincidence of unprecedented heat and low tides overwhelmed those ancient defenses, turning stretches of shoreline into a stark, searing image of climate-driven ecological collapse." - Terrence Doyle