Why isn't this sounding alarms?!! This is happening globally!
Harmful #algae detected in #OaklandCalifornia's #LakeMerritt could be 'an ominous sign for the Bay'
"Earlier this month, signs posted around Oakland’s Lake Merritt made some joggers stop in their tracks. 'Avoid water contact,' they cautioned in bold letters. 'Harmful algae may be present.'
"The warnings came after a mysterious red substance emerged in the water between the Lake Merritt Sailboat House and the Rotary Nature Center on March 7, as the Oaklandside first reported. Subsequent lab testing by the California Department of Public Health and #SanFranciscoBay Regional Water Quality Control Board last week confirmed the presence of Heterosigma akashiwo in the water — the same species of harmful algae responsible for the Bay Area-wide red tides and mass #FishKills reported in 2022 and 2023.
"But Eileen White, executive officer for the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, told SFGATE on Tuesday that the current bloom has not reached those levels. 'The good news right now is the lake is looking good, and the red tide we originally observed has dissipated,' she said.
"White added that she runs around the lake just about every day, but did not observe any dead fish in the weeks since the algae was detected. The water has also returned to its usual color, she said.
"'But we’re still trying to understand what caused it. It was a little surprising, because we’ve had so much rain, and we typically associate these harmful blooms with warmer temperatures and less wind activity,' White said.
"'H. akashiwo has been documented across the world, but is most commonly found west of North America in #Japan, #NewZealand and #BritishColumbia, Canada. The species was first observed blooming in the central part of San Francisco Bay in July 2002, and was also spotted near Sausalito in 2004, depleting oxygen levels in the water and causing fish to asphyxiate en masse."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/harmful-algae-detected-in-oaklands-lake-merritt-could-be-an-ominous-sign-for-the-bay/ar-BB1keJen
#California #HABs #HarmfulAlgaeBlooms #Extinction #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #WaterIsLife #WaterTemperatures #ExtinctionLevelEvent #HAkashiwo #HeterosigmaAkashiwo
