Fish Die Off and Hood Canal

[scubak]

This is really very sad...I just hope we can find a solution soon.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6109585p-5353311c.html

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6109581p-5353259c.html

K

 

[Cold_H2O]

I agree. I hope a solution is found quickly

 

[archman]

There is no quick fix to this sort of phenomenon. It will abate when weather conditions stir up the water column, but the chronic problem of eutrophication will still remain. And get worse as more people move into the area, and legacy water treatment systems fall into increasing disrepair.

Lobby your local and state lawmakers for more stringent water quality regulations, and the enforcement capability to back it up. You can also try lobbying with the federal government, but their current stance is favoring downgrading the Clean Water Act.

 

[Biodiversity_guy]

Installing and using septic systems should come with the awareness that they need to be pumped and maintained.

Another factor is the past logging / land clearing that has hurt the riparian zones' ability to retain sediments from the uplands.

 

[Randy8876]

The best solution is to stop our population growth, but I'm afraid that solution is too simple and far reaching. So maybe we'll try to come up with millions of creative solutions for the millions of problems that will be caused.

 

[stillhope]

Hood Canal isn't the only place experiencing this problem. Dead zones in the ocean are a global problem. Certainly if we are to support even the population we have now, we need to be more responsible about our resource consumption and waste disposal.

I agree, there is a great need to convince our legislators that we need to get serious about this. I think we need all need to roll up our sleeves and really pitch in to make that happen.

If you'd like to know a little more about what's being done to understand the Hood Canal problem, take a look at the 14 minute documentary I produced about it:

http://www.stillhopeproductions.com/Sea-Inside/EpisodeHtml/Episode4/HCDOP.html

 

[Jason Ooi]

very sad news
Hope can find a solution soon

 

[seamonster01]

I thought the dead zones in the ocean(at least off the coast of the pacific northwest) were natural. Is this not true?
.

 

[stillhope]

Turns out, like so many other things in life, that's not a True/False question. There is a serious lack of data in most areas, people really haven't been watching the oceans very carefully or for very long. But based on the data that do exist, human impact has been named as a large factor in many hypoxic regions around the world -- and there seem to be clear indications that they're getting worse and more numerous.

Scientists have been circumspect in their assessment of the dead zone off Oregon -- the immediate oceanographic factors identified are natural. But the jury is still out on the bigger picture -- how unusual is this? why is it unusual? And since it's tied to weather patterns, human impact is implicated, but weather analyses are so complex that they defy a single person's ability to comprehend.

But befuddlement is natural too, no? As is irresponsibility?

 

[Biodiversity_guy]

Seamonster01; there are areas off of the Oregon coast that are part of a large oceanic cycle. What this thread is referring to is oxygen depletion that is occuring primarily in Hood Canal, which seems to be closely linked to nutrient runoff from anthropogenic sources such as septic systems, disturbed soils, etc. This is similar to the dead zone near the mouth of the Mississippi in causation.