TAHOLAH — North of the Moclips River on the central Olympic Peninsula coast, crabbers are pulling up pots full of dead Dungeness crabs.
Dozens of bottom-dwelling fish such as ling cod and hundreds of crab have washed up dead on Peninsula beaches as far north as Kalaloch.
Numerous species of fish — scattered lifeless across beaches south of Taholah — were photographed on Friday by Debbie Preston, Forks-based coastal information officer for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
A vast pool of oxygen-starved seawater is killing fish and crab along the Oregon and Washington coasts.
This eerie, ribbonlike “dead zone” suffocates marine life that cannot move fast enough to escape.
Possibly triggered by global warming, it is the fifth summer in a row for the dead zone — and this summer it’s believed to be bigger than ever, with its tentacles going north to envelop half of the Peninsula’s coast.
Taholah, in northwest Grays Harbor County, is the heart of the Quinault tribal reservation.
“The Quinault Indian Nation is concerned about the effects of the phenomenon on sea life as they have already had fishermen hauling up crab pots with dead crab, or hundreds of empty pots,” said Preston.
As reported in the Peninsula Daily News on Friday, members of Quinault tribe have found large numbers of dead greenling, rockfish and flatfish on beaches.
Some live fish were trapped in tide pools, including rat fish — a deep-water species.
“That tells us they were running from something,” said Joe Schumacker of the tribe’s fisheries department.
“If you’re a fish looking for oxygen, the surf zone is where you would want to go.”
Scientists at Oregon State University say the new dead zone might mark a fundamental new trend in weather, winds and ocean circulation patterns in the Pacific Northwest.
Some dissolved oxygen levels at 180 feet have recently been measured as low as 0.55 milliliters per liter, and areas as shallow as 45 feet have been measured at 1 milliliter per liter.
Such levels are several times lower than normal and are capable of suffocating a wide range of fish, crab and other marine life.
Jack Barth, an oceanographer with the university’s College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, said:
“This change from normal seasonal patterns and the increased variability are both consistent with climate change scenarios.”
