Zombie Worms Vanish: Ocean Health Crisis Deepens, Scientists Warn of Expanding Dead Zones

• Deep-sea zombie worms (Osedax), crucial for recycling nutrients from whale bones, were absent from a 10-year study by Ocean Networks Canada and University of Victoria.
• Researchers placed humpback whale bones 1,000 metres deep in Barkley Canyon but found no Osedax, despite their usual presence in such environments.
• This unprecedented absence signals a severe threat to ocean biodiversity and marine food cycles, indicating expanding oxygen-minimum zones.
• Expanding oxygen-minimum zones, linked to rising ocean temperatures, harm both the worms and their symbiotic bacteria, jeopardizing specialized ecosystems.
• Professor Emeritus Craig Smith warns this "negative outcome" highlights global marine deoxygenation, threatening marine life and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.

Why It Matters: Absence of zombie worms signals expanding ocean dead zones, a critical warning for marine health.