Tag Archives: toxic algae bloom
Polluted water flowing into Tampa Bay could cause massive algae bloom, risking manatee and fish habitats
Millions of gallons of water laced with fertilizer ingredients are being pumped into Florida’s Tampa Bay from a leaking reservoir at an abandoned phosphate plant at Piney Point. As the water spreads into the bay, it carries phosphorus and nitrogen – nutrients that under the right conditions can fuel dangerous algae blooms that can suffocate sea grass beds and kill fish, dolphins and manatees. It’s the kind of risk no one wants to see, but officials believed the other options were worse. >click to read< 18:38
Scientists Are Closer To Understanding What Makes Ocean’s Toxic Algae Bloom
Last winter was the first time the Dungeness crab fishery in Oregon closed temporarily because of toxic algae in the ocean. And even just a week ago, another toxic bloom was happening off the coast. Scientists are just beginning to understand what triggers these conditions. A study this month from Oregon State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides a rare peak below the waves. The toxin, demoic acid, is sometimes produced by an algae called Pseudo-nitzschia, or PN. PN does better than most algae when ocean temperatures are high and there isn’t much nutrients in the water. When these nutrient-poor conditions are followed by upwelling of rich, cold water from the ocean bottom, the PN are in the perfect position to party. Their numbers explode. Read the story here 08:46
Toxic algae bloom closes Downeast Maine shellfish industry
Last week, the Department of Marine Resources issued a recall of mussels, clams and quahogs caught in Downeast Maine after samples tested positive for domoic acid, a biotoxin that causes illness, memory loss, brain damage and possibly death in humans. At the same time, the state banned harvesting for mussels, clams, oysters and carnivorous snails on parts of a wide swath of coastline from Deer Isle to the Canadian border. “A closure for this toxin in Eastern Maine is unprecedented, that is not anything anyone has ever seen,” said Darcie Couture, a Brunswick marine scientist and former head of the state’s marine biotoxin program. “No one on this coast is that experienced with a domoic acid event,” Couture said. “I don’t think it is sinking in how serious this is.” Read the story here 23:07
Southern California crab fishermen given all-clear in toxin scare
In another sign that fresh crab meat soon may end up on Sacramento dinner plates, state officials announced Thursday that crabs caught along the Southern California coast are no longer so infused with toxins that they’re unsafe to eat. But the Northern California crab fishery – where most of the region gets its fresh crab – remains closed because of a massive off the coast. On Thursday, state health and wildlife officials announced that meat from crab caught south of the Piedras Blancas Light Station in San Luis Obispo County “no longer poses a, Read the article here 20:40
