Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico

I stumbled across a great resource this week! NOAA [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] keeps a website called Ocean Today which is linked to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (one of my favorite museums ever, by the way). Here, they post informative videos about ocean life as well as spotlight videos on issues affecting our oceans today.

Here's one about the current dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. This is human-caused and could just as well be fixed by humans. (P.S. These videos are a bit old-fashioned. Sorry, NOAA, but can't you guys get some younger people in charge of your music and graphics selections? The information is still great though! I posted the link because the video plays automatically and I'm sure you all don't want some narrator shouting at you when you open my blog.) Check it out!

http://oceantoday.noaa.gov/happnowdeadzone/

In case you missed it, a "dead zone" is an area of hypoxia - or oxygen depletion. In short, this is caused by the fertilizers used by farmers in the Mississippi watershed being flushed through the river system and into the Gulf. When these nutrients reach the ocean, phytoplankton that feed on them become concentrated. As they die, they sink to the ocean floor and bacteria use oxygen to decompose them. This uses up far more of the oxygen in the water than is normally used and other organisms (like fish and crustaceans) can no longer survive there. (Flash animation showing this process)

The Gulf of Mexico is a very valuable fishery, and as this hypoxia grows more and more fish die or move on. Recently, marine ecologist Nancy Rabalias was awarded a $500,000 MacArthur Genius Grant for her research done in this area. You can read more about her achievements and future research directions here: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/10/louisiana_marine_ecologist_win.html

Annnnnd.... we have power!

After a long absence from maintaining this blog, I now intend to come back with full force to revitalize it!

It might take me a few weeks to get into the regular swing of things, but expect to see a lot more updating soon.

Peace and love to you all out there in cyberland. Don't forget to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather right now - especially if you live in the northeast.