Friday, August 11, 2006

'Dead zone' startles scientists

We are toast!

'Dead zone' startles scientists:

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.'

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