Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' is bigger-than-average this year
The zone this year is about 6,334 square miles, an area slightly larger than the state of Connecticut. A dead zone occurs at the bottom of a body of water when there isn't enough oxygen in the water to support marine life. This summer's dead zone is about three times times larger than the goal a task force of state and federal agencies set in 2001. The annual Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" – a region of oxygen-depleted water off the Louisiana and Texas coasts that's harmful to sea life – is larger-than-average this summer, federal scientists from NOAA announced in a report released Tuesday.