NOAA-supported scientists found the size of this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone to be 6,765 square miles. Researchers had predicted the potential for a record sized dead zone between 8,500 and 9,421 square miles due to the spring flooding of the Mississippi River and the associated large loads of nutrients running off into the Gulf, but strong winds and waves associated with Tropical Storm Don disrupted the western portion of the dead zone.

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