The following piece is published in this month’s Put-in-Bay Gazette. The Gazette has been producing incredible independent Put-in-Bay island news for over 40 years. If you have any interest at all in what is happening on South Bass Island, we urge you strongly to subscribe to the Put-in-Bay Gazette. One-year online subscriptions are only $15, and print subscriptions are available as well. To subscribe please click here.
NOAA issued its annual Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) forecast analysis in July for blooms of the cyanobacteria, Microcystis. Forecast analysis includes bloom position information, satellite imagery analysis, and the potential for vertical mixing and transport throughout the bloom’s July through October season.
With all the troubling news out there, this bit of good news is very welcome. Last year, NOAA measured the bloom at 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. This year, the bloom is projected to measure between 3 and 5, or the highest potential severity of a 6, which is still less than last year.
One factor causing algae blooms is fertilizer washing off farm fields into Lake Erie. The low rainfall this year is helping the lower algal levels.
Experts at The Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory and Ohio Sea Grant on Gibraltar Island.
Experts say any bloom that develops will change with time and move with the wind.
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