Blue Green algae is dangerous for animals and humans

                                                                                   [image credit FWC, 2018]

Living in South Florida, we are all too familiar with the blue green algae that can be found today in all of Florida's freshwater and brackish habitats – lakes, rivers and estuaries. This blue green algae, also known as Cyanobacteria can cause health issues for both humans and animals.

Nutrient pollution from agricultural and urban runoff causes the majority of freshwater cyanobacteria blooms. Other conditions that contribute to blooms are stagnant water resulting from a lack of natural flushing and land clearing. Cyanobacteria blooms can destroy submerged vegetation like seagrass by blocking sunlight. Blooms can also reduce oxygen availability to other aquatic organisms and introduce toxins that pass through the food chain. Toxins produced by cyanobacteria can be harmful to humans, affecting the liver (hepatotoxins), the nervous system (neurotoxins) and skin (dermatotoxins) [FWC, 2018].

Veterinary toxicologist, Steve Ensley, stated that when animals are exposed to this toxin, they may experience vomiting or diarrhea. If the cyanobacteria exposure is severe, it can be lethal and cause liver failure in animals [Anderson, 2018]. Animals should be kept away from any waters thought to have this algae present and livestock ponds should be monitored on a regular basis.

For more information on Cyanobacteria and water pollutants, you can follow the links below: [accessed on 6/27/2018]

Cyanobacteria Blooms FAQs [CDC]

Introduction to the Cyanobacteria  [UC Berkley]

Cyanobacteria/Cyanotoxins   [EPA]

For Research on Cyanobacteria [Purdue]

Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins [USGS]

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Dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is growing larger

What is a marine dead zone? Also known as hypoxia, it is an area in the ocean with such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies, hence the name dead zone. “Hypoxic zones can occur naturally, but scientists are concerned about the areas created or enhanced by human activity (NOAA). 

There are many physical, chemical, and biological factors that combine to create dead zones, but nutrient pollution is the primary cause of those zones created by humans. Excess nutrients that run off land or are piped as wastewater into rivers and coasts can stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which then sinks and decomposes in the water. The decomposition process consumes oxygen and depletes the supply available to healthy marine life” [NOAA https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html ].

Scientists predict that the Gulf dead zone will cover about 6,620 square miles of the bottom of the continental shelf off Louisiana and Texas. The Gulf dead zone is the second largest HUMAN CAUSED one in the world. Science daily reported that “Efforts to reduce the nitrate loading have not yet demonstrated success at the watershed scale” 

[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180607120724.htm ]. The dead zone is present all year long, but is most prevalent during spring and summer, citing nutrients from the Mississippi River watershed contribute to the problem.

To read the full report go to Science Daily story here.

Map showing distribution of bottom-water dissolved oxygen from July 28 to August 3, west of the Mississippi River delta. Black lined areas — areas in red to deep red — have very little dissolved oxygen. (Data: Nancy Rabalais, LUMCON; R Eugene Turner, LSU. Credit: NOAA)