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Scientists hoping to turn tide: Buoy will help researchers better understand toxic algae in San Pedro Bay

Posted by: Maven on March 23, 2009 at 7:24 am

From the Daily Breeze:

They can turn the ocean crimson, sicken marine animals and cause massive, putrid-smelling fish kills. They’re happening more often, and scientists still aren’t exactly sure why they occur. So-called red tides – caused by large growths of toxic algae – have been on the rise in recent years. In spring 2005, one oxygen-robbing red tide was so noxious it chased lobsters out of the sea and kept diners out of King Harbor restaurants.

This year, since late February, scientists from USC have been monitoring a large algal “bloom” that’s lurking underwater south of San Pedro Bay. That mass could soon be pushed to the ocean’s surface by seasonal upwelling of deep waters, said Burt Jones, a professor of marine environmental biology at USC.

“Maybe it’s out here,” Jones said last week, gesturing about Santa Monica Bay. “People just haven’t taken samples at the depths where it is.”

That will soon change. In Thursday’s foggy pre-dawn, Jones and his team took Sea Watch – a slow-moving research vessel owned by a consortium of local universities – from Terminal Island to Redondo Beach. Their mission: to launch a new buoy that will monitor red tide-related data nearly instantly.

Read more from the Daily Breeze by clicking here.

March 23, 2009 · Filed Under Oceans & Beaches

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