Sunday, November 26, 2006

Florida algae bloom kills seagrass

Slime is winning in some of southern Florida's bays; seagrass beds are being killed by a smothering algae bloom, with no cure in sight.

The damage is where populated southeastern Florida drips into the Keys, Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay. Nutrient runoff is a suspected cause, from a canal and a road project that used mulched mangroves.

The biggest worry is that an accelerating cycle of algae bloom and decay could create a low oxygen dead zone and wipe out marine life, similar to an event a decade ago.

Efforts are underway to educate people on nutrients and algae, but there's a long ways to go.

Florida is a great ocean state, and we know what's needed to make things better. Come on, Florida, we know you can do it!! The mermaids of Weeki Wachee are watching.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Re: Algal Blooms
Recently the LA times did a really interesting / horrific piece on the future of the oceans, entitled "Altered Oceans" and i learned that these algal blooms known locally as "red tide" are creating a poisonous substance called Demoic Acid. It just so happens that demoic acid is a neuro-toxin in sea mammals, such as sea lions, and causing them to attack people. a truly good site, nice videos and diagrams.

ps, thank you for your blog, I'm a student of renewable energy and design in Canada and i know the oceans are too important to loose.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-oceans-series,0,7842752.special
this is the site.