From Greenland To Chile To The Gulf Of Oman, Toxic Algae Blooms Proliferating Rapidly

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"There's no question that we are seeing more harmful blooms in more places, that they are lasting longer, and we're seeing new species in different areas," says Pat Glibert, a phytoplankton expert at the University of Maryland. "These trends are real." But scientists also now see troubling evidence of harmful algae in places nearly devoid of people. They're seeing blooms last longer and spread wider and become more toxic simply when waters warm. And some are finding that even in places overburdened by poor waste management, climate-related shifts in weather may already be exacerbating problems.

Fish kills stemming from harmful algal blooms are on the rise off the coast of Oman. Earlier this year, algae blooms suffocated millions of salmon in South America, enough to fill 14 Olympic swimming pools. Another bloom is a suspect in the death last year of more than 300 sei whales in Chile.

In the north, blooms are on the rise in places like Greenland, where some scientists suspect the shift is actually melting ice. Just this year, scientists showed that domoic acid from toxic algae was showing up in walrus, bowhead whales, beluga, and fur seals in Alaska's Arctic, where such algae species weren't believed to be common.

"We expect to see conditions that are conducive for harmful algal blooms to happen more and more often," says Mark Wells, with the University of Maine. "We've got some pretty good ideas about what will happen, but there will be surprises, and those surprises can be quite radical."

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http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/toxic-algae/