HOODSPORT, Wash. (AP) — Low-oxygen in the waters around Hood Canal may again trigger a massive fish kill.
The Kitsap Sun reports (http://bit.ly/pIspVm) that conditions have turned worse for the scores of fish, eel, and octopuses. The marine creatures are now hovering near the surface as oxygen has dropped in deep waters, where they usually live. At least one octopus has died.
Oceanographer Jan Newton of the University of Washington says the low oxygen was caused earlier this summer when late sunshine bolstered the plankton population, which sank to the bottom and decayed. Ocean currents and winds combined to push away oxygen-rich surface water.
Last year hundreds of dead fish washed ashore near Hood Canal.
