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2006 Shelfwide Cruise: July 20 - July 28

The Issue. The scientific work for the commonly name Dead Zone' is hypoxia or low oxygen. The second largest zone of hypoxia in the world's coastal waters is found int eh Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the Mississippi River system. Important commercial and recreational fisheries are impacted as reduced oxygen levels force fish, shrimp and crabs from the area. Animals that cannot move away die. Freshwater and nutrients from the Mississippi lead to the annual formation of the hypoxic waters, and increasing nutrient loads beginning in the 1950s are responsible for the worsening oxygen conditions since then.

Hypoxia Forecast

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