Underwater robots (click here) have found that a vast, oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the Gulf of Oman is now the largest such area in the world.
Scientists have known about the zone for around 50 years, but until recently they have not been able to collect very much data due to piracy and conflicts in the region.
They sent two human-size robots known as seagliders into the area for eight months, and the vessels ventured into previously inaccessible areas.
The seagliders found a zone with little to no oxygen covering almost 165,000 square kilometres, roughly the size of Florida or Scotland, say researchers from the U.K.'s University of East Anglia (UEA). The Gulf of Oman covers 181,000 square kilometres and is actually a strait linking the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz....
