COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 27 (UPI) -- An oxygen-depleted area of the Gulf of Mexico known as the dead zone appeared early this year and, as a result, may pose a greater danger to wildlife.
The dead zone covers about 6,000 square miles along the Louisiana coast where the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers empty into the Gulf, officials said Wednesday. The runoff is rich with fertilizers that deplete oxygen in the water, a condition called hypoxia.
The dead zone normally develops in June but this year the Mississippi had heavy runoff that activated the dead zone in March.
"If the physical conditions we noticed continue, it could mean an unusually strong hypoxic zone this year, and that's not good news" for wildlife, said lead researcher Steve DiMarco of Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
DiMarco said scientists will monitor the dead zone through October.
