Late July 2017 Hypoxia Report

photo by by Krystle Chick

Due to weather and other factors that influenced sampling, there will be no official late-July Maryland Chesapeake Bay hypoxia volume estimation.

For the late July sampling cruise, only center channel bay stations were sampled. Lateral stations closer to the eastern and western shores were not sampled, making an accurate hypoxia volume estimation incalculable.​

(click to enlarge chart)

A profile map of center dissolved oxygen conditions, however, shows that conditions may have worsened.

Early July was much better than average, due in part to sustained windy conditions during sampling, which mixed oxygen deeper into the water column. That mixing appears to have dissipated with hypoxia (areas with less than 2 mg/l dissolved oxygen) drawing closer to the surface and stretching further south.​