Algae Bloom In Estuary Information

[Photoboy]

Scientists Link Oakland Estuary, Lake Merritt Murky Water to Algal Bloom

Aug 8, 2022

SF Baykeeper Cautions Against Contact with the Brown Waters



OAKLAND—Over the past weeks, many residents and visitors to Lake Merritt, the Oakland Estuary, San Leandro Bay, and surrounding areas of San Francisco Bay have been contacting Baykeeper’s pollution hotline to report discolored water.



Our staff scientists have been monitoring and documenting the situation and contacting the relevant agencies. After reviewing the results of recent water sampling data from the California Department of Public Health demonstrating the abundance of a common microorganism, Heterosigma akashiwo, our scientists have identified the problem as a large "algal bloom" that appears to be spreading across the Bay.



Also known as red tides, these algal blooms can be toxic to fish, other aquatic life, and to pets. In some instances, they may also cause skin irritation and allergic reactions in people.



Baykeeper executive director Sejal Choksi-Chugh issued the following statement:



"Baykeeper cautions against people or pets contacting the brown murky water, or eating seafood caught in the area, until the algal bloom dissipates.



“Treated sewage discharges from the Bay's 40 sewage treatment plants and the pollutants from 5 dirty oil refineries create conditions ideal for growing toxic algal blooms. Once a waterway is choked with algal blooms, the water becomes a deadzone for fish and wildlife.



"Baykeeper scientists have been actively working for the past five years through agency technical advisory committees to prevent large blooms of any number of potentially toxic microorganisms from becoming commonplace in the Bay. We’ve been urging the need to get excessive sewage and refinery discharges under control fast to keep algal blooms like the ones cropping up right now in the Bay from taking over more regularly during summer months. That control can only happen if the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board strengthens its nutrient discharge permit And hopefully this is a wake-up call for them to take action, because consistent algal blooms in the Bay would be detrimental to wildlife and people recreating in and around the Bay.”

[DeathSpear]

Now I feel all itchy.

[Buzz Light Beer]

It's Obama's fault!

[Photoboy]

SF Baykeeper continues to advise caution against contacting the murky, discolored waters or eating seafood from affected areas; the bloom now extends over much of the East Bay shoreline and into southern San Francisco—Photo: pollution hotline tipster Benjamin Feingold.




Above and below, the continued growth of the algae bloom has turned very ruddy brown and opaque





The algal bloom in the Oakland Estuary that we reported about two weeks ago now extends across much of the East Bay’s shoreline—including to the Richmond and Berkeley marinas and the Albany Bulb—San Francisco, and into the South Bay.

Our scientists have been monitoring the situation and are in communication with relevant agencies and researchers. Both the California Department of Public Health and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have identified the dominant algal species forming the bloom as Heterosigma akashiwo– a species known to form "red tides". The US Geological Service and San Francisco Estuary Institute report high densities of H. akashiwo further south, as far as Newark.

While not generally considered an acute risk to people, Heterosigma akashiwo is a lesser-studied species of harmful algae. It is always present in the Bay at background levels, but a bloom of this magnitude has not occurred in the region since 2004. In other parts of the world, H.akashiwo blooms have been associated with fish kills and the release of neurotoxins—these toxins are not known to accumulate in fish but may contaminate shellfish. Given uncertainty over health impacts to people and pets, we advise caution when considering recreating in the Bay or consuming fish, and particularly shellfish, caught in affected areas.






Earlier this year, the water quality in the Estuary was healthy enough to support sardines and anchovies in large numbers!





Baykeeper executive director Sejal Choksi-Chugh issued the following statement:

"Baykeeper cautions against people or pets contacting the brown murky water, or eating fish, and particularly shellfish, caught in the area, until the algal bloom dissipates.

"Treated sewage discharges from the Bay's 40 sewage treatment plants and the pollutants from five dirty oil refineries create conditions ideal for algal blooms.

"Baykeeper scientists have been actively working for the past five years through agency technical advisory committees to prevent large blooms of any number of potentially toxic microorganisms from becoming commonplace in the Bay. The Regional Water Board needs to get excessive sewage and refinery discharges under control, and Bay Area cities need to invest in water recycling to keep wastewater out of the Bay in the first place. These changes must happen fast in order to keep algal blooms like the ones cropping up right now in the Bay from taking over more regularly. Hopefully this is a wake-up call for the agency to take faster action, because consistent algal blooms in the Bay would be detrimental to wildlife and people recreating in and around the Bay.

"While this particular algae may not pose an acute risk to people, once a bloom starts to die off, it may deplete oxygen and harm to fish and wildlife, especially in shallower areas of the Bay. We're asking the public to contact us via our pollution hotline if you notice a large quantity of dead fish near shoreline areas where blooms have occurred."

https://baykeeper.org/featured/sf-ba...bay-shorelines

[fstbttms]

Hope nobody is counting on their bottom being cleaned

[Buzz Light Beer]

If you can't see the bottom, why clean it?

[Photoboy]

Washed up on peninsula, a picked over shark


Thousands of dead fish are piling up across the Bay Area.

KQED Reports: https://www.kqed.org/news/11923920/d...al-bloom-grows

From the concrete outer edges of Oakland's Lake Merritt to the sandy beaches of San Francisco's Fort Funston, and the pebbled banks of Oyster Point in San Mateo County, the carcasses of fish likely poisoned by a harmful algal bloom — more commonly known as a red tide — are washing up ashore.

'From a fish's point of view, this is a wildfire in the water.’
Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist, SF Baykeeper

It's a mass-death event the San Francisco Bay hasn't seen the like of in years, says Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist at environmental group SF Baykeeper.

"From a fish's point of view, this is a wildfire in the water," he said.

By SF Baykeeper's count, the amount of fish dying off in the San Francisco Bay could easily exceed hundreds of thousands, and that Rosenfield said might even be a "low" estimate.

His field investigator confirmed "easily tens of thousands of fish dead" in Lake Merritt alone. But Rosenfield cautioned, "what you see is just the hint of what's actually happening further beneath the water surface and in places, you're not getting to on the shoreline. So it's really an uncountable number."

It may be harmful to humans, too. An algal bloom of this size can cause skin irritation and respiratory problems, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is advising people to avoid swimming, kayaking or other activities on the water until the bloom subsides.

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration describes red tides as a "harmful algal bloom," or large colonies of algae plants growing out of control, that are sometimes rust-colored. Not all algal blooms are harmful, and most are beneficial in the ocean.

However, a small percentage of algae can produce deadly blooms, and that's what Rosenfield believes may be happening now.


Sturgeon carcass. Oyster Point, San Mateo County. Tuesday, August 23, 2022. (Courtesy San Francisco Baykeeper.)
Baykeeper is getting reports through its pollution hotline of dead fish in Foster City, Alameda, Keller Beach in Richmond, Sausalito, and Fort Baker.

"Whatever number I offer you would likely be too low," Rosenfield said.

But government officials KQED reached over the weekend would not confirm any number, yet.

Bill Johnson, chief of the wastewater and enforcement division at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, said his agency had some early reports of striped bass and "fairly large athletic fish" dying, but as of the weekend, was unaware of a mass fish death event.

When KQED showed a social media video of dead fish piling up at the edge of Lake Merritt, Johnson said, "That's a pretty powerful image. Yeah, that's not good."


Damon Tighe, who describes himself on his LinkedIn profile as an educator and a naturalist who studies mycology, tweeted a photo of a pile of dead fish at Lake Merritt on Sunday.

"Massive fish die off going on right now in Lake Merritt," tweeted Tighe. "May be related to the huge algal bloom that’s been happening on the east bay since the start of the month in front of Alameda where effluent flows." Tighe included a link to iNaturalist, a nature app that allows users to share their observations with other scientists and naturalists.

The spread of the toxic algae bloom has spread and worstened, as this aerial images will attest:


Areial Images ? Damon Tighe








The algal bloom likely leading to the mass fish death is Heterosigma akashiwo, which SF Baykeeper and the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center have been tracking since it appeared in the last month. The aquatic science center noted that fish-kill reports began emerging around August 22, though they noted the Bay's size makes data gathering a "huge challenge."

What has changed, Rosenfield said, is those reports finally coming in, as well as confirmation from field investigators this weekend.

The algal bloom that Rosenfield says is most likely causing the die-off he says is caused by a mix of environmental conditions, perhaps worsened by climate change, and treated sewage put out by wastewater treatment plants across the Bay Area. The red tide species of algae, Heterosigma, may be killing fish in two ways: it can produce a toxin that is deadly to fish, but it can also result in low dissolved oxygen levels in the water which can also be deadly.

"So we're not sure of which mechanism is operating here. Maybe it's both," Rosenfield said. But the same bloom has caused massive fish kills in other parts of the world, as well.


Deceased salmon at Fort Funston. Not clear if algae bloom is to blame for this however as fishing has been focused in the area and might be the result of multiple causes


The change that spurred the bloom locally, Rosenfield said, was likely a tipping point in warming waters. The solution, then, is for wastewater treatment plants to begin recycling wastewater in far higher volumes than it does now.

An April 2022 report by the environmental group called the Pacific Institute described wastewater recycling as under-utilized across California. The group estimates that an additional 1.8 million to 2.1 million acre-feet per-year of municipal wastewater is available for reuse in California.

San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, an avid swimmer with the South End Rowing Club, saw the red tide himself as he took a dip last week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

"My wife said I can't swim in there anymore," said Peskin. "I told her about it. It was like swimming through rust."

He's started to see the problem on the shores, too. His constituents have already started sending him photos of dead fish on San Francisco beaches. Peskin's district includes Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, all areas with borders that touch the water. Peskin wants to ensure those areas, and beyond, see climate action.

"Our public utilities commission, which is our sewer purveyor, needs to quickly come up with strategies to how San Francisco can do its part in reducing discharges that can exacerbate red tides," Peskin said.

Johnson, from the water quality control board, pushed back on the assertion that wastewater is to blame — the jury is still out, he says.

He says the water control board is spending $2.2 million annually to fund scientists studying the algal bloom to see if it is indeed caused by human wastewater.

"So if the solution is to ask the wastewater community to spend billions and billions of dollars for nutrients, then that's what we're going to do," Johnson said. "But if the underlying causes are something else and if investing all that money isn't going to solve the problem, we need to know that before we take that measure."

Understanding what's causing the algal bloom is crucial, Rosenfield said, because it is almost certainly not a one-off. Without preventative measures, this could be an annual occurrence, rising when the waters warm, and fading as they cool.

It's already beginning to spook Rosenfield, who isn't easy to spook — he's been a senior scientist at SF Baykeeper for four years, and was a lead scientist at The Bay Institute for nearly 11 years.

What really rocked him was seeing a number of a particular white sturgeon, a rare fish part of a recreational fishery, show up dead on Stinson Beach.

They don't wind up dead nearly as easily, being large, armored fish.

"Seeing that sturgeon is an indicator of a much larger problem," he said.

Like a canary in a coal mine, but with scales.

[Photoboy]

Washed up on peninsula, a picked over shark


Thousands of dead fish are piling up across the Bay Area.

KQED Reports: https://www.kqed.org/news/11923920/d...al-bloom-grows

From the concrete outer edges of Oakland's Lake Merritt to the sandy beaches of San Francisco's Fort Funston, and the pebbled banks of Oyster Point in San Mateo County, the carcasses of fish likely poisoned by a harmful algal bloom — more commonly known as a red tide — are washing up ashore.

'From a fish's point of view, this is a wildfire in the water.’
Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist, SF Baykeeper

It's a mass-death event the San Francisco Bay hasn't seen the like of in years, says Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist at environmental group SF Baykeeper.

"From a fish's point of view, this is a wildfire in the water," he said.

By SF Baykeeper's count, the amount of fish dying off in the San Francisco Bay could easily exceed hundreds of thousands, and that Rosenfield said might even be a "low" estimate.

His field investigator confirmed "easily tens of thousands of fish dead" in Lake Merritt alone. But Rosenfield cautioned, "what you see is just the hint of what's actually happening further beneath the water surface and in places, you're not getting to on the shoreline. So it's really an uncountable number."

It may be harmful to humans, too. An algal bloom of this size can cause skin irritation and respiratory problems, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is advising people to avoid swimming, kayaking or other activities on the water until the bloom subsides.

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration describes red tides as a "harmful algal bloom," or large colonies of algae plants growing out of control, that are sometimes rust-colored. Not all algal blooms are harmful, and most are beneficial in the ocean.

However, a small percentage of algae can produce deadly blooms, and that's what Rosenfield believes may be happening now.


Sturgeon carcass. Oyster Point, San Mateo County. Tuesday, August 23, 2022. (Courtesy San Francisco Baykeeper.)


Baykeeper is getting reports through its pollution hotline of dead fish in Foster City, Alameda, Keller Beach in Richmond, Sausalito, and Fort Baker.

"Whatever number I offer you would likely be too low," Rosenfield said.

But government officials KQED reached over the weekend would not confirm any number, yet.

Bill Johnson, chief of the wastewater and enforcement division at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, said his agency had some early reports of striped bass and "fairly large athletic fish" dying, but as of the weekend, was unaware of a mass fish death event.

When KQED showed a social media video of dead fish piling up at the edge of Lake Merritt, Johnson said, "That's a pretty powerful image. Yeah, that's not good."


Damon Tighe, who describes himself on his LinkedIn profile as an educator and a naturalist who studies mycology, tweeted a photo of a pile of dead fish at Lake Merritt on Sunday.

"Massive fish die off going on right now in Lake Merritt," tweeted Tighe. "May be related to the huge algal bloom that’s been happening on the east bay since the start of the month in front of Alameda where effluent flows." Tighe included a link to iNaturalist, a nature app that allows users to share their observations with other scientists and naturalists.

The spread of the toxic algae bloom has spread and worsened, as this aerial images will attest:


Areial Images ? Damon Tighe








The algal bloom likely leading to the mass fish death is Heterosigma akashiwo, which SF Baykeeper and the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center have been tracking since it appeared in the last month. The aquatic science center noted that fish-kill reports began emerging around August 22, though they noted the Bay's size makes data gathering a "huge challenge."

What has changed, Rosenfield said, is those reports finally coming in, as well as confirmation from field investigators this weekend.

The algal bloom that Rosenfield says is most likely causing the die-off he says is caused by a mix of environmental conditions, perhaps worsened by climate change, and treated sewage put out by wastewater treatment plants across the Bay Area. The red tide species of algae, Heterosigma, may be killing fish in two ways: it can produce a toxin that is deadly to fish, but it can also result in low dissolved oxygen levels in the water which can also be deadly.

"So we're not sure of which mechanism is operating here. Maybe it's both," Rosenfield said. But the same bloom has caused massive fish kills in other parts of the world, as well.


Deceased salmon at Fort Funston. Not clear if algae bloom is to blame for this however as fishing has been focused in the area and might be the result of multiple causes


The change that spurred the bloom locally, Rosenfield said, was likely a tipping point in warming waters. The solution, then, is for wastewater treatment plants to begin recycling wastewater in far higher volumes than it does now.

An April 2022 report by the environmental group called the Pacific Institute described wastewater recycling as under-utilized across California. The group estimates that an additional 1.8 million to 2.1 million acre-feet per-year of municipal wastewater is available for reuse in California.

San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, an avid swimmer with the South End Rowing Club, saw the red tide himself as he took a dip last week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

"My wife said I can't swim in there anymore," said Peskin. "I told her about it. It was like swimming through rust."

He's started to see the problem on the shores, too. His constituents have already started sending him photos of dead fish on San Francisco beaches. Peskin's district includes Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, all areas with borders that touch the water. Peskin wants to ensure those areas, and beyond, see climate action.

"Our public utilities commission, which is our sewer purveyor, needs to quickly come up with strategies to how San Francisco can do its part in reducing discharges that can exacerbate red tides," Peskin said.

Johnson, from the water quality control board, pushed back on the assertion that wastewater is to blame — the jury is still out, he says.

He says the water control board is spending $2.2 million annually to fund scientists studying the algal bloom to see if it is indeed caused by human wastewater.

"So if the solution is to ask the wastewater community to spend billions and billions of dollars for nutrients, then that's what we're going to do," Johnson said. "But if the underlying causes are something else and if investing all that money isn't going to solve the problem, we need to know that before we take that measure."

Understanding what's causing the algal bloom is crucial, Rosenfield said, because it is almost certainly not a one-off. Without preventative measures, this could be an annual occurrence, rising when the waters warm, and fading as they cool.

It's already beginning to spook Rosenfield, who isn't easy to spook — he's been a senior scientist at SF Baykeeper for four years, and was a lead scientist at The Bay Institute for nearly 11 years.

What really rocked him was seeing a number of a particular white sturgeon, a rare fish part of a recreational fishery, show up dead on Stinson Beach.

They don't wind up dead nearly as easily, being large, armored fish.

"Seeing that sturgeon is an indicator of a much larger problem," he said.

Like a canary in a coal mine, but with scales.