It was October 31, 1987 – HalloweenDay in the U.S. It seemed to be an otherwise ordinary day, but people on the beaches near Beaufort, North Carolina,were experiencing out of the ordinaryrespiratory distress. A bloom of ‘Florida red tide’, the toxic algae Kareniabrevis, had unexpectedly appeared inNorth Carolina coastal waters for the first time on record. It stayed for almosthalf of a year.
This persistent and unforeseenharmful algal bloom (HAB) was economically disastrous for shellfisheries,seafood, and tourism, costing an estimated $25 million to North Carolina coastal communities (about $47 milliontoday). A need to better monitor, predict, and plan for events like this – integrating all available data from satellites,field monitoring, and ultimately models – was clear.
via Harmful Algal Bloom Operational Forecast System in the US | Harmful Algae News (PDF, p. 18).
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See also:HAB Forecasts Featured in United Nations Newsletter