NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University are forecasting that the "dead zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas in the Gulf of Mexico this summer could be the largest on record.

Researchers at Texas A&M University have confirmed for the first time that a “dead zone” has existed off the Texas coast for at least the past 23 years and will likely remain there, causing potential harmful effects to marine life in the area.

Louisiana’s coastal fisheries produce approximately 25 percent of the total catch by weight in the lower 48 states. With such a substantial portion of the nation’s economy dependant on the state of these waters – particularly the Gulf of Mexico region – it comes as no surprise that these fisheries are heavily monitored and scrutinized by researchers across the globe.

The potential revision to the government’s approach for rejuvenating a huge “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is potentially dangerous and should be reconsidered, scientists in Michigan are reporting in a study scheduled for the Dec. 1 issue of ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

Oil prices dropped Monday (August 20) on expectations a strong Atlantic hurricane will spare key oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sea surface temperatures are one of the key ingredients for tropical cyclone formation and they were warming up in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and eastern Atlantic Ocean by the middle of August. As a result, they helped spawn Hurricane Dean in the central Atlantic, and Tropical Storm Erin in the Gulf of Mexico, both during the week of August 13.

The invasive Australian jellyfish, Phyllorhiza punctata, first reported in great quantities in the Gulf of Mexico in 2000, has made a vigorous reappearance this summer in waters from southwestern Louisiana to Morehead City, North Carolina. Beachgoers and boaters are encouraged to report their sightings of these exotic jellies to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s jellyfish website, Dockwatch, at http://dockwatch.disl.org.

Data from a NOAA Reconnaissance Aircraft indicate that tropical depression five in the Gulf of Mexico has reached tropical strom strength andis now tropical storm ERIN.

Sargassum seaweed, famous in nautical lore for entangling ships in its dense floating vegetation, has been detected from space for the first time thanks to an instrument aboard ESA's environmental satellite, Envisat. The ability to monitor Sargassum globally will allow researchers to understand better the primary productivity of the ocean and better predict climate change.

A team of Texas A&M University researchers will soon be recovering artifacts from a 200-year-old shipwreck that lies more than 4,000 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico, making it the deepest such recovery effort ever attempted in the gulf.