Some answers to dead zones may be closer than we think.
Scientists from around the world are looking to the Saanich Inlet for clues about new ocean “dead zones.” More than 20 researchers from Canada and abroad are involved in a new project studying the inlet, which is a naturally occuring oxygen-minimum zone, or “dead zone,” almost devoid of marine life. The data could help scientists and policy-makers understand what to expect, as global temperatures rise and new dead zones appear around the globe, said Jeff Sorensen, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Victoria…. The Saanich Inlet is a deep glacial fjord. Its entrance is very shallow, which prevents water from mixing with the Strait of Georgia, except near the surface. The inlet’s deeper water stays where it is, Sorensen said. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)
Filed under: Around the Salish Sea, Puget Sound | Tagged: canada, Puget Sound, Saanich Inlet | Comments Off on Saanich Inlet offers scientists hints to oceans’ ‘dead zones’ – Times Colonist
