The 2023 Chesapeake Bay dead zone is the smallest on record

The combination of pollution reduction practices and below-average rainfall results in a historically small dead zone

An aerial view of a wide blue river with a forested shoreline.
The Elk River flows toward the upper Chesapeake Bay in Cecil County, Md., on Nov. 9, 2021. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program - Download image (278.3 KB))

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