Ant,

Sorry to see you backing out.

You should get to know what you are writing about including how to
spell phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton is always dying.
Perhaps you mean zooplankton, of which I think there might be less due to imbalance caused by over abundance of phytoplankton including toxic species fed by sewage and land use nutrient pollution.

I enjoyed discussion with you because it helps to get to understand the marine environment and urgent need to attend to seafood sustainability and ocean animal starvation instead of waffling on about CO2 and lucrative emissions trading.

I spoke briefly to a civil engineer not long ago and he said the aqueduct system should have been started immediately following completion of the Snowy River project.

Really, Ant, you should not be running from debate about a project that might generate vast business and employment and export revenue for government.

Do you think its best to forget export industry and just increase tax to generate revenue?

Cheers

New research is indicating that Oceans are becoming less oxygenated through warming and other factors. The greatest impact has been in the Arctic Ocean where warming has been the greatest.
Last sentences from Absract:
"We suggest that changes in the upper water column are mostly due to a warming-induced decrease in solubility and biological consumption. Changes in the deeper ocean may have their origin in basin-scale multi-decadal variability, oceanic overturning slow-down and a potential increase in biological consumption11,12."

The complete study is available via hyperlink from Washington Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/15/its-official-the-oceans-are-losing-oxygen-posing-growing-threats-to-marine-life/?utm_term=.c916338d4d10&wpisrc=nl_green&wpmm=1

Quote from Washington Post article:

"The largest overall volume of oxygen was lost in the largest ocean — the Pacific — but as a percentage, the decline was sharpest in the Arctic Ocean, a region facing Earth’s most stark climate change."

It is interesting that modelling had previously anticipated loss of oxygen in warming Oceans; now, objective meaures are showing that to be the case.