June 14, 2023 — The Gulf of Mexico dead zone – a hypoxic area with low oxygen levels that are deadly to fish – is predicted to be smaller than average this summer.
The annual dead zone covers about 5,364 square miles on average, but NOAA has forecasted that the area will be 23 percent smaller this year, covering just 4,155 square miles. The dead zone has occurred every summer for the last six years, caused primarily by excess nutrient pollution from human activities throughout the Mississippi watershed. Those excess nutrients lead to massive algae blooms in the gulf, which deplete oxygen in the water as the algae die, decompose, and sink to the bottom.