Natural disasters

LOW-OXYGEN DEAD ZONES FOUND IN ATLANTIC OCEAN

In a paper published in Biogeosciences, researchers describe pockets of low-oxygenated water traveling across the Atlantic Ocean. They found these so-called dead zones in 100-mile long eddies, giant whirlpool-like structures that form in the open ocean and that can spin for months at a time. Dead zones get their morbid nickname from their waters' low levels of oxygen, which make it nearly impossible for any animal life to survive. Animals caught in these regions of the ocean face a simple choice: move, or die.