offshore areas of the Pacific Ocean completely empty of marine life

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1155178563281860.xml&coll=7


'Dead zone' startles scientists
Graveyard - A video survey Tuesday finds offshore areas of the Pacific Ocean completely empty of marine life

Ocean scientists took their first look Tuesday into the oxygen-starved "dead zone" spreading off the Oregon Coast and were shocked by what they saw: a lifeless wasteland of thousands of dead crabs, starfish and no live fish at all.

"It was a real eye-opener for all of us," said Hal Weeks, a marine ecologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "I don't think anybody expected this sort of thing."

Dead Dungeness crabs off Cape Perpetua, just south of Yachats, "were like jellybeans in a jar. You just can't count them, there were so many."

-snip-

Seawater turns deadly for marine life when concentrations of the dissolved oxygen they breathe fall below about 1.4 milliliters per liter. On Monday, Chan measured a concentration of .05, or almost 30 times below the lethal level, about 90 feet below the surface.

-snip-
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I would post more of the article but you have to reg. for pg. 2

this should scare everyone!!!!

how much of a scientist can these scientists be if they didn't expect this?

...It means they are learning something new.

Although if the surprise is bad, it sort of takes the shine off of it.

that we could soon be experiencing if the icecaps continue to melt.

there is a shortage of food, marine or other.

nt