In Alaska, scientists supported by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science are monitoring a massive and unusual outbreak of the toxic alga Alexandrium and its related potent toxin that can accumulate in shellfish. When toxic shellfish are consumed they can cause a severe and sometimes deadly human illness called paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). To [...]
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 [...]
Ocean conditions off southern California are now favorable to harmful algal bloom (HAB) formation, says a group that includes researchers at the University of Southern California. This prediction triggered the launch of the Offshore Water Quality Study field program which is using ship sampling, water column mapping, and modeling to characterize algal species, track blooms [...]
A widespread Karenia brevis bloom that began in September 2009 is causing coughing and respiratory irritation to humans and extensive fish kills along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Early warning of the bloom was provided by National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) researchers using a newly developed instrument, the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB). Monitoring of [...]
Note: This is a re-post of a story in the National Ocean Service’s weekly news. A new study published in the online journal PLoS One documents the first known case of foam produced by a bloom of nontoxic algae causing the death and strandings of seabirds. In 2007, hundreds of birds were found stranded or [...]
At the Regional Workshop for HABs in California Coastal Waters this past April, program managers from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and their partners in the California harmful algal bloom community agreed to work together to develop a statewide HAB alert system for California. This group consists of researchers, marine animal, public health and [...]
A massive harmful algal bloom along the California coast escalated in April 2007, resulting in record toxin levels and hundreds of seabird and marine mammal deaths. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science-funded researchers and managers worked to predict and respond to the ongoing bloom, which impacted areas from San Luis Obispo south to Los Angeles. [...]
NOAA’s extramural, intramural, and event response efforts helped managers and researchers predict and respond to the Alexandrium (also known as “New England Red Tide”) bloom in 2006. NCCOS funding awarded in 2005 as follow-up to that year’s bloom (see press release) supported new maps of Alexandrium cyst seedbeds (which gave a preliminary indication of bloom potential in 2006) and supported research [...]