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Gulf of Mexico โ€˜dead zoneโ€™ has grown larger than Connecticut

August 9, 2021 โ€” A โ€œdead zone,โ€ or an area of low to no oxygen, in the Gulf of Mexico has grown larger than Connecticut, creating an uninhabitable environment for some commercial marine life, and scientists are saying the sparse amount of tropical activity has played a role.

An hypoxic zone, also referred to as a dead zone, is formed when excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and sewage from cities and farms upstream wash into the Gulf. Algae then feeds on these nutrients during the warmer months, and when that algae dies and sinks to the Gulfโ€™s floor, the bacteria that then eats away at the large tangled masses depletes the oxygen in the surrounding water.

The resulting area of low oxygen is called a hypoxic zone, or a dead zone as it becomes unable to support marine life, and it forms in the Gulf every year. Not only can it harm local wildlife, but it can also financially impact fisheries.

Hypoxic waters have been found to alter fish diets, growth rates, reproduction, habitat use and availability of commercially harvested species such as shrimp, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Now, fisheries along the coast of Louisiana will have to deal with a larger-than-average dead zone.

โ€œBasically half of the Louisiana coast for several miles, many miles off shore, the oxygen was too low to support the occurrence of penaeid shrimp, which is one of our biggest economic fisheries in that area,โ€ Dr. Nancy Rabalais, professor at Louisiana State University and LUMCON, and also the principal investigator, told AccuWeather. โ€œSo that area was basically lost as available and suitable habitat to those shrimp. How thatโ€™s going to convert to catches in money in the next month or so, I canโ€™t really say.โ€

Read the full story at AccuWeather

Why This Yearโ€™s โ€˜Dead Zoneโ€™ in Gulf of Mexico Is Bigger Than Ever

August 7, 2017 โ€” Right now, in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, lies an area the size of New Jersey thatโ€™s so oxygen-deprived itโ€™s void of almost all marine life.

The so-called โ€œdead zoneโ€ isnโ€™t a new phenomenon: It appears in the Gulf, and other bodies of water, every summer. But what makes this yearโ€™s Gulf dead zone unique is its magnitude: At 8,776 square miles, itโ€™s the largest ever since tracking began in 1985, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week.

Its size is projected to affect local fishing economies and is raising questions over the amount of pollutants that flow into our water โ€” particularly nutrients from excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers.

โ€œItโ€™s a symptom of an ecosystem thatโ€™s not functioning,โ€ said Dr. Nancy Rabalais, a professor in oceanography and coastal science at Louisiana State University who has been leading survey missions of dead zones since NOAA started tracking them.

What causes dead zones

The dead zones occur as a result of nitrogen and phosphorus flowing into water from farmers using nutrients on crops as fertilizer, and those nutrients getting washed into streams and rivers by rain.

Once it gets to the Gulf of Mexico, the nutrients stimulate the growth of algae. The algae then sinks to the bottom of the ocean and bacteria start decomposing the organic matter in the algae. That process uses oxygen, drawing it from the water.

Read the full story at NBC News

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