November 13, 2019 — Fishermen in Cape Cod Bay recently discovered a large number of dead animals in their traps, including lobsters, flounders, and eels.
After an investigation conducted by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, it was determined they died due to low levels of oxygen at the ocean’s floor, otherwise known as hypoxia.
Beth Casoni, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, said that the warm water temperatures over the summer as well as the current state of Cape Cod Bay lead to the deaths.
“This area in the Cape Cod Bay has very low current flow, so it was the perfect storm for something like this to happen,” she said.
Cold water in the bay gets trapped at the bottom of the ocean underneath layers of warmer water, causing oxygen to wane.