"Record-breaking spring rains and historic flooding in the Midwest were poised to create one of the biggest dead zones on record in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, researchers had estimated.

Instead, Hurricane Barry mixed up the waters, making the dead zone smaller than expected, scientists said during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration press conference on Thursday.

Still, the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is 2.8 times larger than the goal set by the government this year, and the eighth largest in the 33 years with similarly mapped areas."

Jen Christensen reports for CNN August 1, 2019. [2]