Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Oceanic dead zones off the West Coast are the "new normal".

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Oceanic dead zones off the West Coast are the "new normal".
  • Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:16:41 -0500


Oceanic Dead Zones Off West Coast are the 'New Normal'

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/02/oceanic_dead_zones_on_west_coa.php


Topic Categories: Environment • Fish • Global Warming • Invertebrates •
Oceanography
Posted on: February 15, 2008 6:05 PM, by "GrrlScientist"

tags: bpr3.org/?p=52, climate change, global warming, oceanic dead zones,
west coast, North America, Oregon state,
Washington state

"Ever since it was first noticed by crab fishermen who hauled up hundreds of dead
and dying crabs in 2002, the "dead
zone" that popped up in the waters along the northwestern coastal shelf just
off the coast of Oregon has claimed unknown
millions of lives. This oxygen-depleted region has transformed formerly rich
seafloor communities teeming with life into
vast graveyards filled with the bodies of crabs, echinoderms, molluscs, sea
worms and other creatures. This carnage was
easily visible to a team of research scientists from Oregon State University,
who sent an underwater vehicle, equipped
with video cameras, into the depths to look around.

"We saw a crab graveyard and no fish the entire day," noted Jane Lubchenco,
co-author of the papers that report on their
discovery. Lubchenco is the Valley Professor of Marine Biology at Oregon
State University.

"Thousands and thousands of dead crab and molts were littering the ocean
floor, many sea stars were dead, and the fish
have either left the area or have died and been washed away."

The team measured the dissolved oxygen in these dead areas and made a
shocking discovery: there was almost none at all.
When dissolved oxygen is 1.4 milliliters per liter, it is considered hypoxic for most
marine life -- so a "dead zone"
forms."






  • [permaculture] Oceanic dead zones off the West Coast are the "new normal"., Lawrence F. London, Jr., 02/18/2008

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page