The Dead Zone

Guest: Nancy Rabalais, PhD, Professor, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Shell Oil Endowed Chair in Oceanography/Wetland Sciences, Louisiana State University, Distinguished Research Professor, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium The dead zone is a mass of water the size of New Jersey just off the Mississippi River delta in the Gulf of Mexico. It appears every summer, but this year the dead zone is the largest on record. How did this phenomenon get its ominous name and can nothing really live there? What impact does it have on fisheries and tourism?