Since 2002, dead zones have formed every summer off the coast of Oregon and Washington. On this page, you can find the answers to the following questions:

• Where are they happening?
• How are they made? Watch the animation to learn more
• Are they currently happening? Check out some data after the animation.

Hypoxic water has been observed in numerous areas off the coasts of Washington and Oregon in recent years. Dead zones do not necessarily occur in the same area from year to year, so making a generalization of which areas typically have a dead zone year after year is difficult.

*Note: animals and ocean bottom are not to scale.

Coastal Hypoxia update from the Partnership of Interdisciplinary Studies of the Coastal Ocean (PISCO)

Data collected by gliders off the coast of Newport, OR. The graphs are a unique view of a vertical cross-section of the ocean. The white line in the dissolved oxygen graph shows where the hypoxic water is.

Glider Jane

Glider Bob