Every summer, a low-oxygen area, often referred to as a Dead Zone, develops off of the Texas-Louisiana shelf when nutrient-laden fresh water from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers flows into the Gulf of Mexico. While it seems contradictory, nutrients brought in from the river that fuel the region’s plant, wildlife and fisheries productivity are the same nutrients that contribute to the formation of a low-oxygen area along parts of the Gulf’s seafloor. Mobile fish and marine mammals are able to … Continue reading Explaining the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone