A Highly Eutrophic Lake

A Highly Eutrophic Lake: A eutrophic condition is a term describing a situation where of a water body has lost so much of its dissolved oxygen that normal aquatic life begins to die off. Eutrophic conditions form when a water body is "fed" too many nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen. The excess food causes algae to grow out of control, and when the algae die off, the bacteria present use up a lot of the dissolved oxygen in the water body. Lack of oxygen can harm the lake's ecosystem, can cause fish die off, and can leave lakes looking like green pea soup, as this picture of Lake Dora in Florida shows.