8/23 HOOD CANAL Hood Canal, known for its deadly oxygen problems, has experienced record-high levels of oxygen since the beginning of the year — but a day of reckoning could be approaching. Researchers have never seen dissolved oxygen levels that stayed as high as they did during the first four months of 2009. That includes measurements taken from 1952 through 1966 and again from 1998 until today. At the moment, the average oxygen concentration remains in a healthy range, but it has been declining rapidly since May. Nobody can predict how low the oxygen level will go as summer turns into fall. When levels become low, the risk of a sudden fish kill increases under certain wind conditions.
More at: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/aug/23/hood-canal-on-an-oxygen-high-but-coming-down/
Filed under: Places | Tagged: Dissolved Oxygen, Hood Canal |
