Seas around South Korea have become warmer over the past five years, causing the habitats of marine life on the seabed to move northward, a report by the country's fishery ministry said Sunday.

According to the research report by the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries, climate change raised the temperature of the seawater between 2015 and 2020 in the country, affecting the habitats of creatures living on the seabed, such as crabs and conchs.

In 2011, conchs were found to have lived along the country's southern coast located at 35 degrees north latitude, but they expanded their habitats to 37 degrees north latitude in recent years, the report said.

Ghost crabs living near the country's eastern coast moved their habitats to the coast of Uljin, 80 kilometers north of Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

"The findings mean that the boundary line that sea life can live moved northward due to seawater warming," an official at the ministry said. (Yonhap)