The annual Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" — a region of oxygen-depleted water off the Louisiana and Texas coasts that is harmful to sea life — is larger than average this summer, federal scientists reported Tuesday.

 

This year's zone is 6,474 square miles, an area about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. It's bigger than average likely because of heavy June rains throughout the Mississippi River watershed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

 

A dead zone occurs at the bottom of a body of water when there isn't enough oxygen in the water to support marine life. Also known as hypoxia, it's created by nutrient runoff, mostly from over-application of fertilizer on agricultural fields during the spring.

 

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