Oxygen Depletion and Associated Benthic Mortalities 

 in New York Bight, 1976 



Chapter 16. Oxygen Depletion and the Future: An 



Evaluation 



R. Lawrence Swanson,' Carl J. Sindermann,'^ and Gregory Han^ 



' Office of Marine Pollution Assessment, NOAA, 

 Rockvilie, MD 20852 



^ Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service, NOAA, Highlands, NJ 07732 



' Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Labo- 

 ratories, Environmental Research Laboratories, NOAA, 

 Miami, FL 33149 



INTRODUCTION 



Marine research in the New Yori< Bight region has in- 

 creased greatly since the late 1960s. Much of it has related 

 to problems of ocean dumping. To understand these prob- 

 lems better, intensified field investigations of oceanic 

 processes in the Bight were begun in 1973. These inves- 

 tigations were underway in 1976 when the mass mortalities 

 of benthic organisms (later determined to be associated 

 with oxygen depletion in bottom waters) were first re- 

 ported. The field investigation in 1976, although not de- 

 signed to study oxygen depletion specifically, was fortui- 

 tous, because it provided (1) observing and sampling 

 facilities required to study oxygen depletion and (2) much 

 usable data on water characteristics and oceanic processes 

 in the Bight. Field investigations were augmented im- 

 mediately and modified as needed to study oxygen deple- 

 tion and associated benthic mortalities. 



Chapters 1 through 15 describe and evaluate the results 

 of field investigations and special studies. The authors of 

 this chapter have attempted to bring together the findings, 

 and to identify the need to acquire and interpret specific 

 kinds of information. They also make recommendations 

 to aid decisionmaking processes in marine management. 



AREAL EXTENT 



Mass mortalities of benthic organisms were reported 

 from July through October 1976 in continental shelf waters 

 off New Jersey — within an area of about 8,600 km- (fig. 

 16-1). Chapters 12 and 13 discuss in detail the affected 

 commercial and recreational fisheries and geographic 

 areas. The general pattern of observations suggests a north 

 to south progression of stressed or dead organisms from 



335 



