Red algae closes beaches in Sydney

Dinoflagellates in at Clovelly beach in Sydney Australia

From the Herald Sun:

Red tide of algae strikes 10 more Sydney beaches

The Metropolitan Sydney, South Coast and Hunter Regional Algal Co-ordinating Committees yesterday said they had warned "communities along coastal beaches between Sydney and the Central Coast about algal blooms.

"This bloom has likely occurred as a result of the upwelling of nutrient-rich deep ocean water on to the continental shelf," they said.

"Testing of samples taken from Bondi beach have been identified as noctiluca scintillans, which appears as a pinkish to reddish discolouration in water."

"Upwellings create food sources for the predatory noctiluca scintillans - there's more bacteria and phytoplankton for them to eat," Dr Murray said.

...

"They live on the surface off the coast and are very buoyant, so they are at the mercy of wind and ocean currents. If you have the right mix they can be concentrated in dense groups and pushed on to the beaches.

"These two algal concentrations - on the northern and eastern beaches - would have come from the same offshore source.

"They aren't toxic but accumulate ammonia because of what they eat, which can be irritating to some people."

"Scientists say the toxic blue-green algae will only get worse on Ohio lakes"

From Cleveland.com:

The simmering summer of 2010 is coughing up a sickly and unprecedented batch of toxic blue-green algae in western Lake Erie and nearly a dozen of Ohio's shallow, inland lakes.

Many lake scientists are speculating that it's only going to get worse.

"We're going to see a greener and greener lake until changes are made," said John Hageman of Stone Laboratory, Ohio State University's water research station on Gibraltar Island in western Lake Erie. "Everything points to this just getting worse."
That might be hard to imagine.

But it could help to survey the squalid situation at Grand Lake St. Mary's -- a large, inland lake in western Ohio. The 13,000-acre lake near Celina grabbed the attention of both the public and health officials all summer long because of its toxic, pea-soup waters and foamy surface.

"Grand Lake St. Mary's has gone green every summer for decades, that's not new," said EPA spokeswoman Dina Pierce. "But this year, it just exploded -- at times it looked like a science fiction landscape, almost turquoise or swimming pool blue with white foam on top.

"People who have lived there their whole lives had never seen anything like it."

But while the Great Lake and the big lake near Celina have grabbed the headlines, in recent weeks it seems as if almost any shallow body of warmer water in Ohio might be at risk from being tainted by a floating, green bloom of algae.

Simply put, the 2010 algae outbreak is breaking the mold.

"This is first year we've seen blooms like this -- all across the state," said Jen House of the Ohio Department of Health, which is working with the EPA and state Department of Natural Resources to coordinate warnings at the various lakes and Lake Erie beaches. "The problem is that this bacteria loves warm, sunny weather and we've had plenty of that."

State officials have posted warnings about the dangers of coming in contact with blue-green algae at sites from West Branch State Park in Portage County (later found to be free of blue-green algae) to East Harbor State Park on the shores of Lake Erie's warm and shallow western basin.

Ohio health and recreation officials have received about 30 complaints linked to human sickness or irritation from exposure to algae -- more than half from Grand Lake St. Mary's, where officials have long known that runoff from animal feeding operations is providing nutrients for the algae to grow.

At least three dogs have also reportedly been killed by exposure to the blue-green algae in the Ohio lake. Those pet deaths followed similar algae-related dog deaths in recent years in Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana.

Scientists on Lake Erie, where most of the research takes place, blame high concentrations of phosphorus and high water temperatures for algal blooms on course to be the worst in 30 or 40 years. Most say those same factors are playing a role in the algal blooms on the inland lakes.

The dissolved phosphorus count -- fertilizer runoff from farms in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan -- flowing out of the Maumee River is the highest since records began in 1975, according to records at Heidelberg University...

The temperature increase, meanwhile, appears to be merely following a long-term trend that many attribute to a slowly increasing global climate. Water temperatures in Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes have been extraordinarily high since a record warm spring.

Satellite images have shown similar algal growth in each of the last few summers - the largest outbreaks since the blooms reappeared in the mid 1990s, after disappearing for more than 15 years in the wake of the more stringent water quality laws of the early 1970s.

The algae that bloom by midsummer and often stays through September is not only unsightly, but can threaten both fisheries and tourism because the worst strain -- the bacterial microcystin, known as blue-green algae -- can unexpectedly turn toxic about half the time.

"This is a Lake Erie-wide issue, at least," said Gail Hesse of the Ohio EPA's Division of Surface Water and head of the Ohio Lake Erie Phosphoous Task Force. "This lake is water resource for all of Ohio, so we should all have be concerned because the algae can be a public health concern when it goes toxic."

An algal bloom isn't just a natural wonder and contributor to the dead zone. It's potentially fatal.

Blue-green algae -- actually the peptides secreted by certain blue-green algae known as microcystis -- is a known neurotoxin, meaning that at high concentrations it can severely damage the nervous system, including the brain. That makes it especially dangerous to small children or those with weak immune systems.

While there are currently no official health standards for microcystin, state officials are posting warnings based on those recommended by the World Health Organization: No more than 20 parts per billion for recreational water and 1 part per billon for drinking water.

Grand Lake St. Mary's blew those standards out of the water.

"Last year microcystin was already sky high at 84 parts per billion," Hesse said. "Then, early this year, we had readings over 2,000 -- that's on a whole different scale, unimaginable until now."

Cape Cod Waterways Face Pollution Crisis

From the New York Times:

ORLEANS, Mass. — Rising nitrogen levels are suffocating the vegetation and marine life in saltwater ponds and estuaries on Cape Cod, creating an environmental and infrastructure problem that, if left unchecked, will threaten the shellfishing industry, the tourist economy and the beaches that lure so many summer visitors.

More than 60 ponds and estuaries on the cape and a few elsewhere in the region have been choked by algae and seaweed. The culprit is nitrogen, much of it leaching out of septic system wastewater that runs through sandy soil into the estuaries. Faced with a federal mandate to fix their polluted waterways, Cape Cod towns have spent years creating plans to clean up the wastewater, largely through sewers and clustered septic systems.

So far, most of the efforts have been to no avail, stifled by disputes over science and over who should pay for such a sprawling and expensive public works project.

“This is the biggest environmental issue the cape has ever faced,” said Maggie Geist of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, a nonprofit environmental group. “And for a long time it’s been a hidden problem.”

The root of the problem lies in the popularity and unchecked growth of Cape Cod over the last 30 years. Towns chose not to install sewers when the government helped subsidize them in the 1960s and ’70s, fearing that it would lead to an influx of people. Newcomers arrived anyway and sprawled out, using individual septic systems to get rid of waste.

“We’ve reached capacity for the watershed,” said Lindsey B. Counsell, executive director of Three Bays Preservation, a preservation group in Barnstable. “We’re a victim of our own geology.”

Without remediation, excess nitrogen could decimate shellfish beds and lead to widespread summer fish kills as algae, warm temperatures and cloud cover stifle oxygen in coastal waters, say officials who have examined the problem. Bays will be overtaken with seaweed that rots in the summer, a blow to property values and an environmental concern.

Here in Orleans, wastewater has been a divisive subject for years. Some residents say the town should put in place a $150 million plan that was drafted two years ago and approved at a town meeting, while others are calling for additional review before it is financed by taxpayers.

The problem is not always immediately apparent. From a distance, one saltwater pond here looks pristine, the summer sun bouncing off its placid waters and boats bobbing in the salt breeze.

“It’s deceiving,” said Gussie McKusick, who lives alongside the pond. “It looks beautiful, but it’s all dead underneath.”

Septic systems deposit wastewater, a mixture of urine and water, into a leach field. Because the cape’s soil is so sandy and porous, the wastewater eventually is deposited into bays. Even after septic systems are removed, wastewater already in the soil will still be leaking.

The nitrogen problem is most acute in protected bays and saltwater ponds on the cape’s southern side. The tides coming from Nantucket Sound are not high and forceful enough to flush out the nitrogen, which causes algae and seaweed to flourish, choking out oxygen needed by vegetative and marine species.

In Falmouth, which has long finger-shaped salt ponds, some areas have been closed to shellfishing for years because of elevated nitrogen levels, said Robert Griffin Jr., the assistant harbor master.

The algae and seaweed kill eelgrass, where prized bay scallops grow. Those scallops are gone from the ponds in Falmouth.

In August, the problem is sometimes smelled before it is seen. The algae bakes under the hot sun, creating a foul odor that may already be driving tourists away. Paul Niedzwiecki, the executive director of the Cape Cod Commission, a regional land use agency, said he had heard anecdotally that some people had left because of the smell...

"Global Warming Brings Foreign Sea Creatures To Chile's Coast"

.......From the Santiago Times:

“I felt a rush and a little fear when I saw it,” said Chilean surf champion Diego Medina after spotting what appeared to be a shark off the beaches of La Serena (Region IV). In reality, the creature was one of the large swordfish species that recently migrated to Chile's shores as a consequence of warming water currents.

The swordfish is just one of several species that have migrated from afar to Chile due to global climate change. Spanish marine experts have been tracking the sudden southward migration of swordfish from tropical seas since June 2009.

This summer has seen an unusually high number of unfamiliar wildlife sightings at many of Chile's beaches. Scientists blame El Nino, the environmental phenomenon that increases sea temperatures and consequently alters the sea’s ecosystems.

Due to climate changes, “cold-inclined sea animals are arriving to our shores from waters that at one time were much cooler,” said marine biologist Carlos Gaymer.

There is also an alarming case of jellyfish proliferation that has affected northern, central, and parts of southern Chile, added Gaymer. Earlier this month, swarms of jellyfish in Region X forced the closure of several Osorno beaches (ST, Jan. 6).

A large population of sea turtles that normally do not inhabit Chile’s coastline have also been making an appearance. “It's common to see an influx new species from distant areas when their previous environment is no longer habitable because of temperature increases,” warned Universidad de Antofagasta marine researcher Carlos Guerra.

The oceans' warming is also taking its toll on local marine plant life. In some areas of Region V, biologists reported an overgrowth of “luche verde” algae, which has rendered many beaches dirty and foul-smelling.

Another explanation for the seaweed's proliferation is excessive industrial activity along Chile's coast, which creates more space for the growth of invasive species, said Andres Bello University aquaculture engineer Ana Maria Mora.

"Algae prompt Des Moines to switch drinking-water rivers"

From the Des Moines Register:

Record levels of potentially toxic algae in the Raccoon River have once again forced the Des Moines Water Works to draw from the Des Moines River to keep drinking water free of poor tastes, bad smells and health risks.

Levels of blue-green algae — also known as cyanobacteria — for the past month have been higher than those of last year, when readings were the highest Water Works CEO Randy Beavers had seen in his nearly 30 years of service.

Samples collected from the Raccoon in recent weeks have frequently exceeded 20,000 cyanobacteria cells per milliliter of river water — well beyond levels that can easily be treated for use as drinking water. Tests from this week showed levels above 60,000 — the highest waterworks employees have ever measured in the Raccoon River.

In some cases, cyanobacteria can release a toxin that can sicken or even kill animals and humans.

"That's one of the reasons we go to the Des Moines River as another safety precaution should there be any unforeseen spikes in that toxin," Beavers said. "Fortunately, the toxin has been at very low concentrations."

Of further concern this year: Blue-green algae blooms have been more prevalent in the Des Moines River than in the past.

"It's problematic for us when we are, in essence, reduced to one river source," Beavers said. "Our current treatment system just has a very difficult time handling the really high counts" of cyanobacteria. "From an infrastructure standpoint, we feel water quality should be sufficient that we could draw water from either river."

...It would probably cost $1 million or more to upgrade treatment facilities to handle consistently elevated levels of cyanobacteria, Beavers said.

Instead, Beavers and others are hopeful improvements can be made throughout the 2.3-million-acre Raccoon River watershed to decrease the amount of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that feed the growth of algae blooms....

French Seaweed - Deadly Fumes

From TerraDaily:

Mounds of rotting seaweed clogging beaches across northwestern France are emitting a toxic and potentially lethal gas, test results released by the government showed on Thursday.

Tests were ordered on the foul-smelling algae, which green groups blame on nitrates fertilisers used by local farmers, after a horse apparently died from inhaling fumes on a beach in Saint Michel de Greve in Brittany.

Results showed the seaweed in Saint Michel was giving off dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), sometimes referred to as "sewer gas" because it is produced by the breakdown of putrified waste material...

Several points on the beach tested positive for hydrogen sulphide at a concentration of 1,000 parts per million, a level that "can be deadly in a few minutes," the report said...

The build-up of rotting weed on shores in more than 80 towns around Brittany has worried residents and threatened the region's lucrative tourist industry, with part of the coastline already declared off-limits.

Green groups blame nitrate pollution caused by intensive agriculture -- especially among pig farmers -- and have accused the government of turning a blind eye to an "environmental cancer."

"Algae Can Save the World..."

From NaturalNews:

Scientists at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom are conducting research into ways to use algae to not only remove global warming-causing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but also in the synthesis of new biofuels that do not compete with food production.

Algae is being eagerly investigated for its ability to remove vast quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, turning it into oxygen. It was this process that originally led to the creation of the Earth's current atmospheric composition and allowed for life as we know it. It was also the decomposition of algae on the ocean floor that eventually led to many of today's existing petroleum deposits.

"So we are harvesting sunshine directly using algae, then we are extracting that stored energy in the form of oil from the alga and then using that to make fuels and other non-petroleum based products," said Steve Skill of Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

Plymouth scientists are not the only ones working on turning algae into viable fuel. Companies trying to get into the game include Sapphire Energy, Origin Oil, BioCentric Energy and PetroAlgae. Japan Airlines has already test-flown a plane fueled with a combination of biofuels (some derived from algae) and conventional jet fuel.

Part of the appeal of algae biofuel is the same as that of other biofuels -- because plants absorb carbon dioxide while they grow, they are thought to make up for the carbon dioxide emissions when fuels derived from them are burned. Algae has the added benefit of growing well in places unsuitable for human food production, this making it less likely to affect food prices as corn-derived ethanol has been accused of doing. It also grows 20-30 times faster than most food crops.

Scientists from Plymouth and elsewhere are also investigating algae for its ability to absorb the carbon dioxide given off by the burning of fossil fuels. Brazilian company MPX Energia is already planning to start using algae to capture emissions from a coal plant as soon as 2011.

"Lake Ontario coastal water under siege"

From the Democrat & Chronicle:

After the Great Lakes cleanup of the 1970s, pollution levels plummeted, fish began to thrive and algae receded to a minor annoyance.

But three decades after that massive, multibillion-dollar cleanup, the waters of four of the five Great Lakes are once again plagued by smelly, slimy algae.

Lake Ontario's shoreline has become distinctly murky. Some describe it as a bathtub with a dirty ring around it.

The stringy green algae known as cladophora is once again washing up on shore — fouling boat propellers, shutting down an upstate nuclear power plant and closing beaches.

Cladophora-related closures at Rochester's Ontario Beach have increased fourfold in recent years.

Health officials are concerned that decomposing cladophora provides a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria. And some U.S. scientists worry about the increase of cyanobacteria, which can produce dangerous, even deadly, toxins.

The new growth of these algae and bacteria, scientists say, is driven by an abundance of phosphorus in some near-shore areas and connected bays and ponds, particularly around Rochester and points west.

Concern about algae and weed growth has made phosphorus a hot topic throughout North America and spurred new government controls on phosphorus discharges. But New York state is lagging.

A dozen states in recent years have adopted or considered legislation to address phosphate content in dishwashing detergent. Dozens of Great Lakes cities and counties, and some entire states, also have banned phosphorus in lawn fertilizer in the last few years.

Neither of these tactics has taken root in New York state.

Phosphorus was the main target of the 1970s cleanup. Improving sewage treatment and banning phosphates in laundry detergent proved effective — in the deep waters in the middle of the lake.

But water near the shore now has high levels of the pollutant. Discovering the cause and the remedy for this problem is a key goal of research being conducted by academic and government scientists....

Phosphorus, a highly reactive element obtained by mining phosphate rock, was named a pollutant of concern by the U.S. and Canada in their 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. An ingredient of fertilizer and cleaning compounds, phosphorus was discharged into the lakes in large quantities. The agreement called on the two nations to tighten control of phosphorus at sewage treatment plants and reduce phosphate additives to laundry soaps.

Those steps and more were taken. For example, New York was among several Great Lakes states that had essentially banned phosphates in laundry soap by the mid-1970s....

As phosphorus tapered off, so did algae....

But in the late 1990s, citizen complaints about fouling of beaches and shorelines began to recur. When Howell surveyed the lake bottom in 2000, "there was scads of the stuff there," he said, and complaints became even more frequent after that.

No systematic survey has been made in U.S. waters, but there is no doubt that the algae is running wild again....

In the 15 years from 1978 to 1992, the beach averaged fewer than two days a season when algae sent swimmers home. In the 15 full years since then, the average has been almost eight algae closures per year.

"This is a newer problem — it's a problem we actually haven't seen for many years now," Makarewicz said of the algal buildup at the shoreline. "Lots of places are problem spots. This stuff is so thick in some places you can't move a boat through it."

The Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego County had to shut down unexpectedly three times last September and October because cladophora overwhelmed protective screens and clogged water intakes, reducing the flow available to cool the reactor, according to reports submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The algae coats sand or rocks with a slippery scum. As it rots, algae emits an odor so foul that shoreline residents must shut their windows in mid-summer.

But it's not just aesthetic concerns that prompt officials to shut down beaches, said Charles Knauf, an environmental health project analyst for the Monroe County Health Department. Mats of cladophora and other algae appear to provide a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. Organisms such as E.coli that come from the digestive tracts of mammals have been found at the beach during algae events, Knauf said.

"The concern now is they can reproduce in these algal mats," he said. "The thought is that it's an 'artificial gut' inside these mats, or in the sand."....

Another part is to sample at pre-determined spots on the U.S. and Canadian shorelines in an effort to learn how much new phosphorus is flowing into the lake from various sources, including sewage treatment plants, stormwater overflows into creeks and rivers, leaking septic tanks, and runoff from fertilized grass and farm fields laden with nutrients. Typical lawn and garden fertilizer contains phosphorus, as do some farm fertilizers.

Although phosphorus has been largely eliminated from laundry detergents, phosphates still are added to dishwasher soap and other cleaners...

Phosphates in dishwasher detergent have been banned by law in some U.S. states, and the federal government in Canada just proposed new regulations to eliminate phosphates from all household cleaning products.

Various locations around the Great Lakes have implemented restrictions on phosphorus in lawn fertilizers.

Such things have been discussed informally in New York, but not adopted, Zelazney said.

The DEC applies a more stringent, holistic approach to regulating pollution in some smaller water bodies, including two small bays connected to Lake Ontario. But the program hasn't been used to address phosphorus in Lake Ontario.

Algae: 'The ultimate in renewable energy'

Texas may be best known for "Big Oil." But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country's use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is green fuel.


Plant physiologist Glen Kertz believes algae can some day be competitive as a source for biofuel.
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"Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy," Glen Kertz, president and CEO of Valcent Products, told CNN while conducting a tour of his algae greenhouse on the outskirts of El Paso.

Kertz, a plant physiologist and entrepreneur, holds about 20 patents. And he is psyched about the potential algae holds, both as an energy source and as a way to deal with global warming.

"We are a giant solar collecting system. We get the bulk of our energy from the sunshine," said Kertz.

Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50 percent of their weight is oil. That lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and airplanes. Watch how pond scum can be turned into fuel »

Most people know algae as "pond scum." And until recently, most energy research and development projects used ponds to grow it.

But instead of ponds, Valcent uses a closed, vertical system, growing the algae in long rows of moving plastic bags. The patented system is called Vertigro, a joint venture with Canadian alternative energy company Global Green Solutions. The companies have invested about $5 million in the Texas facility.

"A pond has a limited amount of surface area for solar absorption," said Kertz.

"Red tide has spread from Maine to Mass."

From The Boston Globe

Red tide has spread from central Maine to Gloucester, making it unsafe to harvest soft-shell clams or mussels from those coastal waters and potentially signaling the onset of a business-damaging season, state officials say.

The single-celled algae carries toxins that concentrate over time in shellfish, making them poisonous, even lethal. Red tide often occurs in late spring and summer, when the algae grow rapidly. Crabs, lobsters, fish, and shrimp are not affected.

A combination of abundant beds of the algae seeds and excess winter precipitation could translate into the worst red tide season since 2005, oceanographers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution say.

The 2005 outbreak, which also began in the middle of May, extended from northern Maine to Nantucket with algae counts 40 to 100 times higher than normal. It halted business for nearly 2,000 clammers, oyster farmers, and mussel harvesters for much of the summer. They lost tens of millions of dollars.

"I'm not in a position to make predictions, but we're always worried," said Michael Hickey, chief biologist for the state Division of Marine Fisheries.

He said the no-harvesting order along the North Shore took effect on Thursday for mussels, carnivorous marine snails, and soft-shell clams. But he said it was not unusual to see red tide this time of year.

"We are always watchful of this from the beginning of May," he said.

Hickey added there's no risk for residents who eat clams or mussels already on the market. The state suspends harvesting when officials find 80 micrograms of the toxin for 100 grams of shell fish meat. It takes 250 to 300 micrograms to make people ill.

Don Anderson, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who specializes in red tide issues, said his oceanographic models show this year's bloom could approach the damage that occurred in 2005...

The state has sampling stations that test shellfish every two days. Massachusetts has been monitoring red tide since 1972, when there was also a large outbreak.