Southern California’s coast emerges as a toxic algae hot spot

Southern California’s coast emerges as a toxic algae hot spot. (2018, August 23). Retrieved February 17, 2019, from https://news.usc.edu/147515/southern-californias-coast-emerges-as-a-toxic-algae-hot-spot/

 

Research from USC scientists has indicated that the Southern California coast holds some of the world’s highest concentrations of toxic algae that is dangerous to wildlife and people who eat seafood. The conditions become worse in the spring when upwelling causes nutrients to come to the surface which are then consumed by plankton and other algae. A species named Pseudo-Nitzschia is the culprit behind domoic acid, and a warming Pacific Ocean is causing them to spread ever farther into the ocean. The highest ever recorded domoic acid reading was 52.3 micrograms per liter in San Pedro in 2011, which is 5 times higher than the amount that should cause concern.

 

This article is alarming and should be a call to action for the California government and scientists around the world. The large amount of toxic algae could be dangerous to our food supply and if it spreads far enough may even contaminate our irrigation systems, thus contaminating our food supply. The sheer mass of algae alone should spur change in how we are acting in regards to the algal blooms that have been appearing near us. It is also shocking that San Pedro has had such a high toxicity level for so long yet we have gone quiet on the issue.

 

2 thoughts on “Southern California’s coast emerges as a toxic algae hot spot

  1. Wow this is really concerning. I knew that algae blooms created problems for wildlife because of oxygen depletion, but I didn’t know that there were also toxic species which could harm sea life/people. I agree with you that it is surprising this issue isn’t publicized more. How do you think we could get more people to pay attention and care?

  2. great article alon keep up the good work. this is super concerning because of the potential harm to ecosystems as well as humans. in what ways do domoic acids affect people?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *