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Phosphates blamed for recent algae bloom on Lake Erie

Posted on September 22, 2009

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  Blue green algae (microcystis or cyanobacteria) washing up on the eastern shore of Pelee Island, Sept. 4, 2009. On a calm day the water on this beach is normally crystal clear. (Photo credit: Thomas Archer)

Compiled by SFLMC member Gene Sasso
Beach lovers and boaters in Lake Erie had a rude awakening in mid August when a vibrant, lime green bloom of algae appeared and spread rapidly throughout the Lake’s western basin.

Canadian and American scientists studying the blue-green algae bloom determined that is was  microcystis, a type of cyanobacteria that feeds on phosphorus and sometimes produces dangerous toxins.
 
Some residents and visitors likened the bloom to pea soup or jell-o. On calm days, while the water remained relatively clear, the algae collected in vast, acre-long rafts, covering the surface and suspended in the water one to two feet down, as if in gelatin.
 
The earliest sightings of the bloom came in July in the Maumee Bay area, near Toledo, Ohio. By late August and early September kilometers of lake surface were affected with vast patches of “green goo” washing up and floating off shore along the Erie Islands (including Pelee Island, Ontario, Kelly’s Island and North and South Bass Islands in Ohio), west of the Pelee Passage, and north to Kingsville and Leamington, Ontario.  
 
Approximately 50 miles of water separates the Ohio and Ontario mainland coasts in the western basin of Lake Erie.
 
Untreated sewage and farm runoff are commonly cited as the most significant sources of phosphorus pollution.  While phosphorus abatement had been considered an essential success factor in reviving the Great Lakes in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the presence of the bloom on Erie this year raises concerns that in recent years the U.S and Canadian governments, and the provinces and states bordering the Lakes, may have let their guard down.
 
In July, a two day Great Lakes Phosphorus Forum meeting was convened in Windsor, Ontario.

———-submitted by Gene Sasso - surfer, beach lover from Lake Erie.————-

The southern tip of Pelee Island or “Fish Point” with waves of blue green algae (microcystis or cyanobacteria) bloom hugging the Eastern shore and wafting in from the south. Taken from light plane, Sept. 4, 2009. (Photo credit: Thomas Archer)

From a light plane, flying over Lake Erie at 2500’ on Sept. 4, 2009. Pleasure boats are visible in the waves and rafts of blue green algae (microcystis or cyanobacteria) stretching for miles near the international boundary between the U.S. and Canada. (Photo Credit: Thomas Archer)

  2500’ Aerial view into Lake Erie blue green algae (microcystis or cyanobacteria) bloom, near Pelee Island and Canadian and U.S. boundary, Sept. 4, 2009. (Photo Credit: Thomas Archer)

  View of blue green algae bloom (microcystis or cyanobacteria) at southern tip of Pelee Island, Ontario (Fish Point), Sept. 4, 2009. From light aircraft, camera view is south east. (Photo credit: Thomas Archer)

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