As shellfish harvesting in parts of Southampton Town has been shut down by the eastward spread of the toxic ‘red tide’ algae bloom, East Hampton officials have watched anxiously for signs that the toxin could find its way to East Hampton Town waters next.
The scientists who discovered and have been tracking the emerging health threat in Southampton, however, say that conditions in most stretches of East Hampton waters are very different from those areas that have seen the toxic blooms and are unlikely to see this specific concern pose a threat to human health or shellfishing here.
This Friday, June 1, Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences professor Dr. Chris Gobler will discuss the situation in a free talk sponsored by the East Hampton Town Trustees, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
via East Hampton News – East Hampton Wary As Red Tide Hits Southamtpon – 27east.
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Dr. Gobler is partnering with theNew York State Department of Environmental Conservationto enhance HAB monitoring in Long Island Sound and help New York respond to the accelerating and expanding threat of PSP to the state’s shellfish industrythrough a NCCOS Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) project.
For more on the story, read:Early Onset of Harmful Algal Bloom Leads to Long Island Shellfish Bed Closures