"Dead Zone": Shocking View of Ocean Graveyard

In the summer of 2006, a mysterious disruption in the Pacific Ocean ecosystems off the coast of Oregon caused an extraordinary disaster, but one seen by almost nobody. Perhaps as a result of shifting winds, upwelling from the deep ocean doubled, pushing a huge influx of nutrients toward the surface. Plankton populations surged, but that sucked all the oxygen out of the water. Any fish caught in the area died.

Two months later, when researchers lowered cameras to the ocean floor, "we were shocked to see a graveyard," Francis Chan of Oregon State University told reporters at a AAAS Annual Meeting news briefing Friday. "Frame after frame of carcass, carcass, carcass."

Now researchers are wondering whether climate change may be implicated in "dead zones" found also off of Chile, Namibia and South Africa. Jonathan Fildes, science and technology reporter for BBC News, filed this troubling report.

17 February 2007