Ocean Dead Zone (Jonathan Moran)

Dead Zones – No, not when you don't have cell service, but rather areas in the ocean with high nutrient pollution caused by human activities that deplete oxygen in the water.  These areas are vast spaces that are literally “Dead Zones” where little to nothing can survive due to insufficient oxygen levels in the water.  The term commonly used in this topic is hypoxic, simply meaning low oxygen.  This lack of oxygen causes species in the waters across the globe to suffocate and die.  Currently, one of the biggest forming hypoxic zones annually is in the coastal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.  A major human cause of this is from common fertilizers.  As we have learned in class, the Mississippi watershed is a HUGE area of the United States, where a good chunk of the area is agriculture land.  Farmers (non-organic that is) use pesticides and fertilizers to speed up the process of growing crops.  These fertilizers end up in streams and rivers and eventually drain into the Gulf of Mexico.  Once the excess nutrient pollution enters into the ocean, algae grow at a rapid rate.  The algae will expand and eventually die, sink, and decompose.  The decomposition of the algae then consumes oxygen, leaving little behind for anything living.  Anything that can swim like fish or larger creatures have the opportunity to escape while they can, but coral and other living species that are slow moving or fixed, cannot and suffer a far worse fate.  These areas have such low oxygen levels where life cannot exist, turning the ocean into a deserted ecosystem with little to no biodiversity.  This is a serious problem that is happening in areas in the ocean and Great Lakes due to the high and frequent use of fertilizers.  Once these chemicals are in the ocean, the waters have no way of filtering out these nitrous chemicals.  The chemicals attack oxygen and deplete levels to where life in not possible.  In order to save the fish, we need to stop using fertilizers or come up with a process where the run-off does not contaminate waterways.  If we are able to trap these chemicals before they enter the waterways and oceans and lakes, we would have a far greater chance to save more ecosystems from collapsing and disappearing.  This process causes species to relocate, creating havoc on other ecosystems where specific species are not naturally found.  This puts pressure on other species and causes species to die due to a huge swing in the food chain.  Species when in a different habitat, whether that be a non-natural depth, or water temperature, causes species to die.  If we are not careful in how we fertilize land, these dead zones will continue to grow, and ecosystems will continue to diminish.  It is our duty to realize what we (humans) are doing to the ecosystem is not sustainable.  We then need to act and come up with a plan on how to contain the  problem and make sure it does not continue to happen.  Finally we need to regulate more closely the affect fertilizers have on the ecosystem.  I was unaware of how serious this issue is, and I am sure I am not the only one.  The need for awareness needs to continue to grow about this issue so we can save the manatees!  Who doesn't love a seacow?

Manatee eating lettuce and saying Hi Friend

COOL VIDEO Check it out if you are a visual learner like myself!

Sources:
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130611144922/mlp/images/6/6f/Seacow.jpg
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/dead-zone-cycle-080815.jpg