This photograph shows the border of a hypoxic zone, or dead zone, in the Gulf of Mexico. Hypoxic zones are areas of the ocean where all ocean life has been killed off by excess phosphorous and nitrogen. The excess P and N in the ocean comes from fertilizer run off.
When people use fertilizer that is not absorbed by plants, the excess runs off into our water table and creeks, streams, rivers, etc. All of these eventually run into our oceans. If the water running into the oceans has excess nutrients, this creates an algae bloom. The algae bloom interrupts the normal balance of the ocean by creating an opaque cover over parts of the ocean.
When the algae uses up the nutrients in the water, the algae dies and falls to the ocean floor. The excess algae decay process uses any oxygen left in that area of the ocean, leaving none for the other life in the ocean. In turn, this creates a dead portion of the ocean, or a Hypoxic Zone.
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