Bob Carter and John Spooner write:
The relative densities of air and water mean that the total mass of the atmosphere is equivalent to that of only the top 10 metres of the ocean. Correspondingly, the heat contained in the atmosphere is equivalent to that contained in only the top 3.2 metres of the ocean. Oceans being, on average, about 4,000 metres deep, they obviously comprise a very large heat reservoir.
If properly supported financially I will gladly research surface temperatures and their affect on the feeding patterns of selected marine fauna along the VA/NC coast.
It takes a mighty long thermometer.