New England is expected to experience a “moderate” regional “red tide” this spring and summer, report NOAA-funded scientists working in the Gulf of Maine to study the toxic algae that causes the bloom. The algae in the water pose no direct threat to human beings, however the toxins they produce can accumulate in filter-feeding organisms [...]
Scientists from a NOAA-funded project in the Gulf of Maine issued an outlook for a moderate season of toxic algae blooms known as ‘red tides’ in the spring and summer of this year, indicating some risk to the New England shellfish industry. When the algae drift into commercial beds, state agencies shutter them for consumer [...]
Scientists are on the water off the New England coast this week gathering evidence to determine what caused an unusually large spike in Harbor seal deaths. The carcasses showed no signs of starvation, which kills many young Harbor seals this time of year once they’ve weaned. Theories abound in the media, but evidence suggests that the seals could [...]
In April 2011 scientists from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project issued an outlook for a moderate regional bloom of the toxic alga, Alexandrium fundyense, that can cause ‘red tides’ in the spring and summer of this year, threatening the New England shellfish industry. However, there are signs [...]
On February 24, researchers with the NOAA-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project will issue an advisory on the projected bloom of Alexandrium fundyense in the Gulf of Maine in 2010 at the Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, Oregon. Although the algae pose no direct threat to human beings, toxins produced by this species can [...]
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science researchers and their collaborators found that ten invasive tunicate species are fouling shellfish aquaculture operations along much of the U.S. East Coast, causing decreased growth rates, increased mortality, and high maintenance costs. The survey identified the locations of highest fouling, which will be used to develop a plan to [...]
As part of an NCCOS research cruise in the Gulf of Maine, surveyors aboard the R/V Endeavor in May and June found a significant harmful algal bloom of Alexandrium fundyense in the vicinity of Georges Bank. Abundance of this algae, also known as New England Red Tide, was greater than 1000 cells per liter in some locations, greatly [...]
In 2005, the most severe bloom since 1972 of the microscopic alga, Alexandrium fundyense, spread from Maine to Massachusetts, resulting in extensive commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting closures to protect humans from paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Alexandrium blooms are one of several algal bloom types often called red tides, but more correctly referred to as [...]