NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided a harmful algal bloom (HAB) Event Response award of $4,520 to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS), Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), University of California- Santa Cruz, and The Marine Mammal Center. This award will fund their efforts to investigate the Pseudo-nitzschia bloom and co-occurrence of a marine mammal mortality event taking place off the coast of Southern California.

Pseudo-nitzschia blooms result in the production of the neurotoxin domoic acid. On August 15, 2022, increased reports of California sea lions with signs of domoic acid intoxication from the Channel Islands Marine Wildlife Institute began appearing on social media and within the broader California marine mammal stranding network. Initially, the domoic acid intoxication cases were located in the Ventura area, southeast of Santa Barbara. Later that week, the first domoic acid intoxication case was reported in Santa Barbara County. By August 30, more than 60 California sea lions had been rescued, and ten deceased animals, including sea lions, northern fur seals, and dolphins, were recovered from beaches. Most of the deceased animals were adult female California sea lions and at least one was a northern fur seal that required euthanasia after treatment. In September, another ten California sea lions were rescued by centers farther south in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, along with one deceased dolphin. The stranded sea lions exhibited symptoms of domoic acid intoxication, consistent with previous Pseudo-nitzschia bloom events.

The California Harmful Algae Risk Mapping (C-HARM) System, which uses satellite imagery and circulation modeling to produce spatially explicit domoic acid forecasts, has produced forecasts that align with the present event, first predicting a highly localized patch of domoic acid risk in the Ventura, CA area that eventually spread into the Santa Barbara Channel and has recently intensified in a narrow coastal swath from Orange County to the Mexico border. However, SCCOOS-funded pier monitoring via the Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring and Alert Program (HABMAP), which collects weekly phytoplankton and water quality data at ten locations along the California coast, has not captured indications of a significant bloom event.

Given the mismatch in coastal phytoplankton monitoring and ecosystem impacts during this event (ie. cell concentrations were not detected by pier monitoring despite marine mammal strandings on beaches with signs of DA intoxication), this award will support the offshore sampling of domoic acid concentrations in areas not routinely monitored in the Santa Barbara Channel. This sampling will be conducted aboard the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper cruises-of-opportunity. It is critical to sample the bloom as quickly as possible to better understand cross-shore variability and the nearshore/offshore decoupling of domoic acid production.

In addition, this award will support the determination of acute impacts to marine wildlife by funding analysis of the active toxin – domoic acid in animal tissues – to assist in keeping track of marine mammal impacts throughout the bloom event. Scientists at SCCOOS and SCCWRP will work directly with regional partners, including the California marine mammal stranding network, and local communities to communicate results from this emergency response.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) provided a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Event Response award of $15,420 to the U.S. Geological Survey- California Water Science Center (USGS-CAWSC) and San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). This award will fund their efforts to investigate the extensive Heterosigma akashiwo bloom taking place in San Francisco Bay. The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring System is also providing satellite images of the H. akashiwo blooms to determine development and extent.

First reports of discolored red or brown water occurred in mid-late July 2022 around Alameda Estuary. California Department of Public Health collected samples and was the first to confirm the organism as H. akashiwo. Scientists at the USGS- CAWSC and the SFEI were tracking the event using remote sensing products. In early August, evidence emerged that the bloom was expanding into the open-bay waters of South Bay San Francisco Bay. By the end of August, Sentinel-3 satellite imagery (provided by NOAA) and field observations found that the bloom had extended across the entire South Bay. At this same time, observations from the public of dead fish washing on shore began to be reported, with over 200 reports of fish mortalities distributed through the Bay. The dead fish were made up of a wide range of taxa, including sturgeon, striped bass, leopard sharks, bat rays, and numerous smaller species. There were concerns that fish impacts could eventually expand into the low-salinity zone of Suisun Bay as this region provides important habitat to the federally endangered Delta Smelt, and is an important stop-over habitat for migrating salmonids.

Around August 29 the bloom began to decline. Chlorophyll levels from field surveys on August 31 and September 1 were near ambient pre-bloom concentrations. Notably, dissolved oxygen concentrations had decreased in the South Bay (Oakland to San Jose), so the negative impacts of the bloom continued to persist even after the bloom had subsided. Oxygen levels eventually returned to pre-bloom concentrations in early September. This was the first low dissolved oxygen event to impact an entire sub embayment (South Bay) since monitoring began in the 1970s.

The cause of the massive die off is still unknown but may be attributed to toxins produced by H. akashiwo, or low dissolved oxygen concentrations as the high-biomass  bloom dies and decomposes. To date, the mechanism of H. akashiwo toxicity is unknown although a number of potential mechanisms have been proposed. These mechanisms are difficult to study because they are complex and some toxic compounds may be ephemeral. The California Interagency HAB Illness workgroup has received two reports of human illness possibly related to the SF Bay marine HAB (H. akashiwo) event. Symptoms occurred following water contact, and the Illness workgroup is investigating the potential connection.

USGS and SFEI researchers are using NCCOS HAB Event Response funding to analyze water quality, genetic, and microscopy samples collected to measure and track the bloom development and expansion. These data will be compared with long term monitoring data to identify changing conditions that might have led to this large bloom.

Fish kill in Lake Merritt (Oakland, CA) on August 27.

Additionally, NCCOS provided remotely sensed images of the bloom that the State Water Resources Control Board (CA Water Boards) used to track the spatial extent as it expanded across the San Francisco Bay. These images were published to expedite data sharing among responding agencies and organizations. The product was posted on the HAB Reports web page that centralizes information on incident reports and monitoring data from partner agencies including USGS. The remotely sensed information also helped prioritize outreach to local health agencies in the area of impact and support targeted incident response and beach advisories.

The NCCOS HAB Event Response Program provides immediate assistance to help federal, state, and local officials manage events and advance the understanding of HABs as they occur. The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring System routinely delivers near real-time products for use in locating, monitoring and quantifying algal blooms in coastal and lake regions of the US.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) provided a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Event Response award of $6,820 to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to respond to an intense HAB in the lower Chesapeake Bay, in collaboration with NOAA, Virginia Department of Health, and state shellfish growers. These efforts will also help improve regional HAB monitoring and forecasting capabilities by supporting satellite algorithm validation activities.

In mid-August, the formation of a very intense bloom of the toxin-producing algal species Margalefidinium (previously Cochlodinium) polykrikoides in the York River, VA was confirmed by satellite imagery and aerial photos. Since 2007, blooms of M. polykrikoides have historically been followed by large and extensive blooms of another HAB-forming species, Alexandrium monilatum, throughout the lower Chesapeake Bay. Both species are considered harmful because they have been known to cause adverse effects on juvenile oysters, finfish, and other commercially important seafood. Virginia ranks second in the nation for production of farmed oysters, and first in clam production. Therefore, these intense blooms cause great concern about ecological and economic impacts on valuable aquaculture and fishing industries throughout the Chesapeake Bay because they impact the health and growth of shellfish. However, they do not result in toxic shellfish and there have not been reported human illnesses associated with consumption of Chesapeake Bay shellfish.

VIMS researchers are using this funding to collect water samples and quantify algal cells via FlowCam and quantitative PCR, while NOAA is collecting above-water radiometer measurements for satellite algorithm development for Sentinel-3 satellites and processing bulk chlorophyll levels and algal cell counts via microscopy. Together, these measurements will allow scientists to improve detection methods for individual Chesapeake Bay HAB species; look at changes in their optical signatures throughout the bloom (initiation to demise); and determine cell abundance estimates from space to improve satellite detection.

Additionally, this effort will help NCCOS and its partners expand the current HABscope network to the Chesapeake Bay and develop artificial intelligence to detect A. monilatum in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Water samples will be collected to help train the HABScope system software to recognize and classify the long chains of A. monilatum. Building on experiences in the Gulf of Mexico, efforts are underway to adapt the user-friendly monitoring tool to advance monitoring and forecasting efforts to help mitigate HAB impacts on the lower Chesapeake Bay.

Results from the collaborative response effort are being distributed to regional partners, shellfish growers, and the Virginia Department of Health weekly. Shellfish growers can use this information to make informed decisions in the region, this includes possible changes to cleaning protocols in bloom-exposed areas, relocating shellfish cages, and if possible, shutting off hatchery and nursery intake water when bloom waters approach their facilities. Data from this response effort will also help support the goals of regional regulatory agencies and growers for improved capacity to respond to future blooms

The NCCOS HAB Event Response Program provides immediate assistance to help federal, state, and local officials manage events and advance the understanding of HABs as they occur.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) provided a harmful algal bloom (HAB) Event Response award of $15,482 to the University of Florida, Florida’s Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW), the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI). This funding will support efforts to determine if predatory seabirds experiencing brevetoxicosis can be leveraged as early warning ‘sentinels’ for red tide events along the Florida coast.

A red tide event caused by the organism Karenia brevis, which produces brevetoxin, persists off the coast of Southwest Florida. Bloom conditions improved during late January and early February, however an unusually high number of juvenile royal terns (Thalasseus maximus) and double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) were found dead or displaying neurological impairment indicative of brevetoxicosis. Preliminary samples confirmed that brevetoxins were found at levels equal to or higher than those reported for seabirds previously diagnosed with brevetoxicosis.

Cormorants and royal terns feed offshore, at depths of up to 8 meters (24 feet) and 2 meters (7 feet), respectively. Scientists hypothesize that these birds consumed prey fish impacted by red tide cells located below the ocean's surface, before the bloom could be detected by satellites. At the time these birds were collected, high concentrations of K. brevis were not detected in surface waters assessed via water sampling or remote sensing. However, by mid February 2021, water samples revealed bloom concentrations of K. brevis near Sanibel Island. The birds may serve as ‘sentinel’ species for blooms brewing beneath the ocean's surface before the red tide can be detected by current observing methods. The adverse impact this red tide event has had on young, fish-eating seabirds presents an opportunity to evaluate brevetoxin bioaccumulation in these potential ‘sentinel’ species and their prey.

This funding supports analysis of bird and prey fish samples for brevetoxins and stable isotopes. The results, which will determine whether these species can be reliably leveraged as sentinels for soon-to-emerge blooms, will be shared with regional partners who oversee red tide water quality sampling efforts, remote sensing detection efforts (NOAA HAB monitoring and CoastWatch programs), and wildlife rehabilitation and management efforts. Findings from this work will also inform when and where subsurface and surface water sampling and detection efforts should be focused in the future.

The NCCOS HAB Event Response Program provides immediate assistance to help federal, state, and local officials manage events and advance the understanding of HABs as they occur.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) provided a HAB Event Response award of $48,000 to the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, and Qagan Tayagungin Tribe of Sand Point. This funding will provide temporary support to continue and expand regular and consistent testing for Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) toxins in shellfish, and phytoplankton identification along the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands.

The southern Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska experienced unusually warm ocean temperatures during the summer of 2020, which might have increased the likelihood of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Previous reports of Alexandrium cysts, cells, and toxins in Arctic waters confirm the presence of HAB species in this region. Alexandrium species are often responsible for the production of PSP toxins, which can impact human health. This past spring and summer, unprecedented levels of PSP toxins were found in shellfish collected at locations along the Aleutian Islands chain and Alaska Peninsula. PSP toxins measured in blue mussels, snails, and butter clams collected from King Cove, Sand Point, and Unalaska were frequently above the FDA limit for safe consumption, sometimes as much as 100 times. Consumption of blue mussels and snails resulted in a fatality in Unalaska, AK in early July 2020. These regional data suggest a widespread HAB event led to elevated toxin levels in shellfish.

The funding supports consistent, monthly collection and analysis of blue mussels, limpets, and butter clams at six locations across the four Tribal communities, from August 2020 through September 2021. Samples of mussels, limpets, and clams are being sent to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Laboratory (ADEC) for analysis. Funds are also provided to purchase equipment and supplies needed to monitor phytoplankton. The Tribes will work closely with the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and NOAA NCCOS Phytoplankton Monitoring Network to learn to identify toxin-producing HAB species and establish a monitoring capacity to support future development of predictive models or HAB early warning systems.

Results from ADEC will be made available to the public via the Qawalangin Tribe social media platforms and website, and distributed through each community by environmental staff. Qawalangin Tribe staff will attend monthly phone calls of the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom (AHAB) network to share data with the larger interested community of researchers and others working in  harmful algal blooms and PSP. Data from this study will not be used for human food safety information, but will serve as a way to better understand what is happening in shellfish and the waters surrounding the harvesting locations. The only safe way to consume shellfish in the region continues to be purchasing them from a commercial source.

Additional Resources:

• Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska PSP Monitoring and Lab Results

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided a Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response award of $11,640 to the University of South Alabama and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) to evaluate cyanobacterial bloom impacts in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Vast inputs of freshwater and suspended materials from the Mississippi River are released into the northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem via rivers, natural openings, and spillways and diversions that prevent or control flooding. The US Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District operates the Bonnet Carré Spillway, which was opened for two lengthy periods between February 27 and July 27, 2019 to prevent flooding after heavy rains in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys increased river stages. Persistent low salinity conditions, blooms of toxic cyanobacteria, hypoxia, and mortalities in oysters, dolphins, sea turtles, and other marine species are occurring across the northern Gulf of Mexico. NOAA Fisheries declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) due to elevated bottlenose dolphins stranding from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. Beach advisories have been issued throughout the region to prevent exposure to cyanobacterial toxins.

This award supports sample collection and analyses for detection of harmful algae and cyanobacterial toxins to better understand bloom dynamics and drivers, and potential food web impacts including risks to humans. Changes in phytoplankton community assemblages and associated toxin production in the coastal environment will be evaluated along with environmental measurements including salinity and dissolved oxygen. Partners include the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network, as well as researchers from Auburn University and Bowling Green State University. Data will be shared with scientists and managers across the region, including coordination with event response efforts ongoing in Lake Pontchartrain. These data will support outreach and risk communication efforts by Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant and will inform the Northern Gulf of Mexico Bottlenose Dolphin Unusual Mortality Event investigation.

The NCCOS HAB Event Response Program provides immediate assistance to help federal, state, and local officials manage events and advance the understanding of HABs as they occur.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided a HAB Event Response award of $12,900 to the Louisiana State University (LSU) and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF). This award will fund their efforts to monitor shoreline areas commonly used for recreation around the lake for levels of algal toxins that could be harmful to people or their pets during recreational use. The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring System is also providing satellite remote sensing images of the cyanobacterial blooms to inform decisions about sampling.

Satellite Image The red areas show the peak of the cyanobacterial bloom in the Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne regions (dark areas at upper left. The Gulf of Mexico is the large dark area to the right. The Mississippi River Delta (aka bird’s-foot delta) is the NW-SE protruding light colored land mass at left-center. Credit NOAA derived image from Sentinel-3A satellite.

This bloom originated from the introduction of large volumes of nutrient-rich fresh river water, from the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, into the lower nutrient, estuarine Lake Pontchartrain. Freshwater inputs from the spillway have been shown to substantially change the chemistry and ecology of the lake. Spillway openings can rapidly depress lake salinities, causing most of the lake to become fresh which can persist for several months, when seasonal weather or tropical activities introduce saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico into the lake. Preliminary field results investigating the bloom composition identified the abundance of cyanobacterial species known to produce a variety of cyanobacterial toxins. These toxins have the potential for causing human illnesses. Previous spillway openings have been associated with toxic cyanobacteria blooms, and there is a concern that blooms could occur in shoreline areas utilized by the public, possibly exposing people and/or their pets to harmful levels of algal toxins.

LPBF and LSU will conduct weekly field water quality monitoring, sample collection, and analysis. Monitoring will occur at sites along the north and south shorelines of Lake Pontchartrain. The sampling effort will be aided by NOAA providing imagery from the Sentinel-3 satellites. These satellites measure coastal water color, which shows the location of harmful cyanobacteria blooms. If significant blooms are detected in the lake using satellite images, monitoring intensity will be increased, with more frequent, weekly monitoring at baseline sites as well as additional sites. Monitoring will continue after the spillway is closed, when an expected decrease in turbidity throughout the lake would be conducive to widespread algal growth, until the end of summer. By then the likelihood of a bloom and the risk to people and pets is expected to be low due to decreasing water temperatures and increasing salinities that are unfavorable to the growth of toxic cyanobacteria.

This award will fund HAB identification and counts and biotoxin analyses for duration of the event; samples will be collected for later nutrient analyses. LSU and LPBF researchers and staff will work closely with Louisiana Department of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to closely monitor the severity of the bloom and potential public health impacts.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided a Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response award of $15,000 to NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center Wildlife Algal-toxin Research and Response Network (WARRN-West) to determine the role of algal toxins in wildlife mortalities occurring in the Norton Sound region of Alaska.

The Bering and Chukchi Seas are experiencing unusually warm ocean temperatures, which may increase the likelihood of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Previous reports of marine mammal exposure to HAB toxins in the Bering Sea, and of the presence of Alexandrium cysts, cells, and toxins in Arctic waters confirm the presence of HAB species in this region. These factors provide cause to investigate the role of HAB toxins in the current multispecies mortality event that is taking place in the north Bering Strait and Norton Sound regions. Mortalities include birds, fish, krill, clams, a bowhead whale, a minke whale, ice seals, and walruses.

This award supports environmental and wildlife sample collection, and analyses for detection of algal toxins that may be harmful to wildlife and people in Alaska. NOAA scientists will work directly with regional partners, including Alaska Sea Grant and the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network, and local communities to communicate results from this emergency response. Food security is a major concern in Alaskan Native communities, where subsistence harvests comprise seals, sea lions, walruses and whales. Subsistence hunting is critical for nutrition in Alaskan Native communities.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided a Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response award of $11,640 to the University of South Alabama and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) to evaluate cyanobacterial bloom impacts in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Vast inputs of freshwater and suspended materials from the Mississippi River are released into the northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem via rivers, natural openings, and spillways and diversions that prevent or control flooding. The US Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District operates the Bonnet Carré Spillway, which was opened for two lengthy periods between February 27 and July 27, 2019 to prevent flooding after heavy rains in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys increased river stages. Persistent low salinity conditions, blooms of toxic cyanobacteria, hypoxia, and mortalities in oysters, dolphins, sea turtles, and other marine species are occurring across the northern Gulf of Mexico. NOAA Fisheries declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) due to elevated bottlenose dolphins stranding from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. Beach advisories have been issued throughout the region to prevent exposure to cyanobacterial toxins.

This award supports sample collection and analyses for detection of harmful algae and cyanobacterial toxins to better understand bloom dynamics and drivers, and potential food web impacts including risks to humans. Changes in phytoplankton community assemblages and associated toxin production in the coastal environment will be evaluated along with environmental measurements including salinity and dissolved oxygen. Partners include the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network, as well as researchers from Auburn University and Bowling Green State University. Data will be shared with scientists and managers across the region, including coordination with event response efforts ongoing in Lake Pontchartrain. These data will support outreach and risk communication efforts by Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant and will inform the Northern Gulf of Mexico Bottlenose Dolphin Unusual Mortality Event investigation.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) provided an Event Response award of $5,000 to Florida Gulf Coast University to aid efforts to identify whether cyanobacterial (blue-green algae) blooms of Microcystis active around Cape Coral, Florida, are producing airborne toxins or particles.

Florida Gulf Coast University graduate student Adam Catasus installs an algae air-sampling pump outside a Cape Coral home. Credit: Dr. Mike Parsons, FGCU.

For several months in 2018, intensive Microcystis blooms have plagued communities along the tidal Caloosahatchee River and adjoining canals around Cape Coral, Florida. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FLDEP) has been conducting monthly sampling in the area and reporting on the presence of Microcystis aeruginosa and microcystin toxin concentrations. On September 17, 2018, FLDEP measured microcystin concentrations of 46 μg L^-1 (micrograms per liter). According to the World Health Organization, microcystin concentrations greater than 20 μg L^-1 in recreational waters are considered “high risk” for acute health effects.

With microcystins present in coastal waters near Cape Coral communities, residents have expressed concerns about health risks from exposure to microcystins via inhalation of aerosols or particles (i.e., “algal dust”). However, there is no conclusive scientific evidence to date of an airborne vector for microcystin exposure.

To address this question, the research team developed a pilot air sampling program, and in September 2018 began collecting air filter samples from a site along the tidal Caloosahatchee River next to an ongoing Microcystis bloom, along with samples from a control site without a bloom. Air samplers were run from September 21 to October 11, 2018 and water samples were collected too, before and after deployments at each site. The goal of the program is to determine whether toxin and cell particles are present and to identify particle sizes. As particle sizes decrease they can be more deeply inhaled into the lungs, allowing any associated toxins or other bioactive compounds to more easily enter the bloodstream.

NCCOS Event Response Program funding will cover costs to analyze air samples and water samples using DNA sequencing to determine the presence or absence of Microcystis. Microcystins will be tested using an ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test kit. The project is led by Dr. Michael Parsons (Florida Gulf Coast University), and involves researchers from Yale University and Cape Coral Environmental Resource Division. Results will be shared with personnel from Cape Coral, Lee County, and FLDEP. The researchers will also investigate potential expansion of the pilot monitoring program and linkages with other human health research groups.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NOAA’s NCCOS’ HAB Event Response Program provided $10,045 in Fiscal Year 2018 funding for a project led by the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) that aims to learn more about sea turtle diets and how the toxicity of their food can impact turtle mortality rates during red tides.

A bloom of the red tide organism Karenia brevis, which produces brevetoxins, has waxed and waned off the coast of Southwest Florida since October 2017. Humans and animals may be exposed to brevetoxins by eating contaminated food or by breathing in aerosolized (airborne) toxins. The current bloom has had severe economic effects across the region, affecting tourism and the seafood industry. The bloom also has caused extensive mortalities in sea turtles and other marine life. Sea turtle strandings are especially high during K. brevis red tides, and many turtles that have stranded have tested positive for brevetoxins.

This project will explore connections between sea turtle mortalities and brevetoxins in partially digested food sources – including seagrass leaves, shellfish, fish, or sponges – found in the turtles’ digestive system. The data collected will inform our understanding of how turtles become sick when exposed to brevetoxins through the foods they eat, and how pervasive the toxins are in coastal food webs important to sea turtles. Managers may use these data to determine if altering prey availability through managed harvests could reduce the impacts of brevetoxin on sea turtles.

The NCCOS HAB Event Response program will fund screening tests and confirmatory analytical analyses to determine the presence and levels of brevetoxins in gut contents and tissues in samples collected from stranded turtles and their digested prey. SCCF staff will work with the NOAA NCCOS Analytical Response Team, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

A relatively small, one-time NCCOS funding contribution to aid the study of red tide off southwest Florida has helped produce an unexpected long-term benefit – the establishment of a citizen science initiative to monitor for red tide and a previously unknown low dissolved oxygen “dead zone” off the southwest coast of Florida.

Scientists and Captain Casey Streeter aboard the R/V F. G. Walton Smith standby to deploy a rosette-type water sampler during the October 12-19, 2018, SW Florida red tide cruise. Credit NOAA AOML

NCCOS Event Response funding, in tandem with additional funding from NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), helped support an October 2018 research cruise aboard the R/V F.G. Walton Smith, led by Dr. Christopher Kelble of NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML). NCCOS and SEFSC contributions helped to extend the cruise by 3 days, and allowed local fisherman, Casey Streeter, to participate in the cruise. The main focus of the cruise was to quantify human health and ecosystem impacts of the 2017-2018 massive red tide event. Streeter also directed scientists to areas of concern for local fisherman, which resulted in the discovery of a previously undiscovered southwest Florida dead zone.

NOAA/SEFSC stakeholder workshops focusing on the southwest Florida coast identified serious citizen concerns regarding red tide impacts on fish populations and habitat. Red tide was impacting not only the fish populations that commercial and for-hire fishing businesses depend upon, but other aspects of fishing communities such as aquaculture, recreational fishing, tourism, local seafood markets, and real estate values. The newly discovered dead zone heightened citizen concerns.

A celebrated outcome of the research cruise (funded in part by NCCOS and SEFSC) was the establishment of a NOAA-supported citizen science initiative to help NOAA and its Florida partners monitor water quality off the southwest Florida shelf. The Florida Commercial Watermen’s Conservation (aka Florida Watermen), a group of commercial fishermen, are now contributing their own water quality testing to help NOAA and the broader scientific community gain a better understanding of water quality issues and red tide events. AOML receives and quality controls the data from the Florida Watermen, before submitting it to the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS).\

In addition to water testing kits, the Florida Watermen were also equipped with a new “HABscope”, an instrument provided by NOAA and GCOOS that combines smartphone technology with a microscope, to help monitor the abundance of red tide species. By using the HABscope and sampling offshore, commercial fisherman can identify and provide an early warning to beachgoers of possible respiratory irritation risks from an approaching red tide bloom before it reaches shore.

NCCOS is pleased to have contributed to the success of this new government/citizen science success story. Through the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program, NCCOS is providing local organizations with modest financial support to defray event response costs, such as mobilization of sampling, supplies, and analytical services.

Read more about the NCCOS HAB Event Response for Florida red tide here.

On August 14, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided an Event Response award of $19,200 to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) and Mote Marine Laboratory. The award will supplement their efforts to document and understand changes in the severity, duration, and location of the ongoing red tide along the southwest coast of Florida.

The bloom of the red tide alga, Karenia brevis, originated offshore of southwest Florida in October 2017. It intensified and moved closer to shore in June 2018, extending 130 miles and affecting seven Florida counties. Blooms of K. brevisproduce brevetoxin, which kills fish and makes shellfish dangerous to eat. The toxins can become airborne through wave action and may cause respiratory irritation for people on or near beaches.

The bloom is taking an increasing toll on marine animals, including fish, sea turtles, birds, dolphins, and manatees. There are multi-million dollar economic impacts to the shellfish and tourism industries. Shellfish harvesting closures are necessary to protect human health and beach recreation, hotels and restaurants, and charter boats, are losing customers as people avoid areas with dead fish, strong odors, and air quality warnings.

Weekly HAB report from July 30–August 3, 2018 showing sampling conducted by FWRI in southwest Florida, including transect lines off Tampa Bay (sampled monthly for over a year) and Charlotte Harbor (sampled weekly since July). Credit: FWRI.

FWRI and Mote will conduct weekly one-day sampling efforts along a four-station transect line from three to 30 miles offshore in the impacted area near Boca Grande Pass. The award will fund expanded nutrient and biotoxin analyses for four weeks. The data are critical to predicting and mitigating impacts from this and future events. Continued and more severe impacts to fisheries, wildlife, human health and the local economy are likely as the bloom transitions into the late summer-fall period when K. brevis blooms typically thrive near shore.

For more information, visit the NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program webpage.

NCCOS has provided the Sitka Tribe of Alaska with funding to expand monitoring and toxin testing of an active bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia in the city of Sitka’s coastal waters in southeast Alaska. Some species of the marine alga Pseudo-nitzschia produce domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin that can accumulate in shellfish that feed on Pseudo-nitzschia and can lead to amnesic shellfish poisoning in people who eat tainted shellfish.

In July, elevated concentrations of Pseudo-nitzschia at tribal monitoring sites around the city of Sitka raised concerns about domoic acid, prompting the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Laboratory (STAERL) to increase algal monitoring. Water sampling results revealed a toxic Pseudo-nitzschia bloom threatening Sitka community shellfish harvesting.

In Alaska, commercially harvested shellfish sold in stores and restaurants meet federal Food and Drug Administration–approved and state-run toxin testing requirements and are safe to eat. However, there is no routine state-run algal toxin testing of shellfish harvested for recreation, subsistence, or ceremonial use.

To ensure access to safe shellfish and increase regional food security for southeast Alaska, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska formed the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research (SEATOR) partnership, which monitors harvest locations for harmful algal blooms, their toxins, and other threats. SEATOR now includes 16 tribal governments and monitors over 30 sites using sampling techniques and toxin analysis methods developed and transferred from NCCOS scientists and the NOAA Phytoplankton Monitoring Network. Historically, paralytic shellfish toxins have been the most significant algal toxin threat to subsistence harvesters, but with the emergence of domoic acid, STAERL and SEATOR capabilities are strained.

The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program funding will equip STAERL and partners with test kits and filter supplies needed for a comprehensive rapid screening across SEATOR subsistence harvesting sites. The effort will leverage expertise at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center for confirmatory identification of local Pseudo-nitzschia species. Results will help STAERL assess the feasibility of adopting a multi-level phytoplankton and water sample domoic acid screening process similar to the one used in the state of Washington for effective early warning of shellfish toxicity. Domoic acid is expected to become a greater threat to subsistence shellfish harvesting in southeast Alaska as water temperatures increase.

For the first time in New England’s coastal waters, shellfish have exceeded the regulatory limit for domoic acid – a potent neurotoxin produced by the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia. Domoic acid accumulates in shellfish that feed on Pseudo-nitzschia, and can lead to amnesic shellfish poisoning in people who consume tainted shellfish.

Multiple mapping cruises took place in early October, covering both waters where shellfish closures have occurred and waters without closures but where blooms were present. Credit: K. Hubbard.

The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program awarded funds to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences to rapidly map the spatial extent, species composition, and toxicity of thePseudo-nitzschiabloom in the coastal and nearshore waters of the Gulf of Maine, and to determine the oceanographic conditions contributing to the bloom’s toxicity and distribution. Maine state managers are using these data to inform shellfish harvest closures and mitigate the impact of the unfolding bloom.

Blooms ofPseudo-nitzschiahave also been observed in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Weekly coordination calls between state agencies, researchers, and NOAA are also helping Massachusetts and Rhode Island respond to this ongoing regional bloom.

Earlier NCCOS and partner harmful algal bloom research in the region has documented the presence ofPseudo-nitzschiaspeciescapable of producing toxins and alerted shellfish managers to this potential threat. Those efforts focused on providing agencies with better detection technology and monitoring methods and have provided some capacity that has aided the rapid response to the current bloom.

Blue-green algae clog a Martin County, FL marina, June 2016. Photo Courtesy Mary Radabaugh, Central Marine, Stuart and the Martin County Board of County Commissioners

NCCOS, through its HAB Event Response program, in response to a request from the Martin County Board of County Commissioners, has provided funds and identified experts to track the recent bloom in Lake Okeechobee that began in May and has expanded to the largest cyanobacterial bloom in the state in at least 10 years.

NCCOS provided funds to support sampling and toxin analyses in estuaries and coastal waters and provided satellite images to track the bloom. Martin County will provide monitoring results to the State Emergency Operations Center, and will release final results to the public. The NOAA funding came after the county contacted NCCOS for help in dealing with concerns for public health, particularly in county areas where the likelihood of human exposure is high, such as marinas and beaches.

Martin County is a popular tourist area located at the mouth of the St. Lucie Estuary. The bloom originated in Lake Okeechobee in May, eventually covering 200 square miles of the lake, and moving through the C-44 Canal a (St. Lucie River) into the St. Lucie Estuary as the lake was drained to protect the integrity of the dike encircling the Lake.

The Martin County Board of County Commissioners issued a formal declaration of emergency on June 29, 2016 in response to the economic, public health, and ecological impacts of the bloom.

The bloom is predominantly in freshwater, so EPA Region 4 is leading the Federal response. NCCOS HAB Event Response funding supports that response, and is directed where the bloom has moved into estuaries and coastal waters. The satellite imagery products are part of the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) project, a collaborative effort between U.S. EPA, NASA, NOAA, and USGS to provide early warning of cyanobacteria and other toxic and nuisance algae blooms.

From late April into May 2015 hundreds of diamondback terrapin turtles ( Malaclemys terrapin ) began dying and washing up on beaches in the western part of Long Island, New York. Simultaneously an on-going Alexandrium fundyense bloom occurred. Alexandrium produces a potent neurotoxin, saxitoxin, which is the cause of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). The terrapin tissues were intact and in good condition, and necropsy did not indicate any disease, so PSP was suspected.

The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program provided emergency funding to a group of scientists and managers from Cornell University, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and Stony Brook University. They

The diamondback terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin. (Credit: Andrew Coleman, NOAA National Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program)

collaboratively analyzed different tissues from multiple terrapins to determine if PSP likely caused the die-off and start understanding how saxitoxin affects terrapins. If saxitoxin wasthe likely cause of death, this would be the first recorded terrapin PSP event.

Due to their popularity for stews and soups, diamondback terrapins were once the subject of both commercial harvesting and aquaculture along the East Coast from Massachusetts to Texas. Their populations were depleted in the 20th century due to a combination of consumer demand, drownings in crab traps, and loss of sandy beach nesting sites to shoreline hardening.

Around mid-August, a bloom of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium monilatum appeared in lower Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. It is unclear whether the bloom originated there or was carried there by currents. Since it first appeared in the York River and at the oceanfront off Sandbridge Beach, the bloom has been observed miles into lower Chesapeake Bay, in the lower James River and its tributaries (the Lafayette and Elizabeth Rivers), and in the Lynnhaven River in Virginia. The region has never experienced such an extensive bloom of this species, which is receiving additional attention because of its bioluminescence.

Bioluminescent Alexandrium monilatum bloom along shore of the Elizabeth River in Virginia (August 2015). Credit: Jeff Robertson and Rachel Petet, ODU

A. monilatum has no known human health impacts, but its appearance has raised concerns among bay hatcheries and restoration programs as it can produce a toxin that is lethal to fish and shellfish. Crab and small fish kills have been reported, as have high mortalities of oysters from several growers around the York River, but a link to the bloom has yet to be established.

Microscopic view of Alexandrium monilatum collected from the coastal waters of Sandbridge Beach, Virginia. Credit: Todd Egerton, ODU

The NCCOS Event Response Program is funding an effort led by investigators at Old Dominion University (ODU)to assess the biotoxcity of the bloom. Scientists arecollecting bloom water samples to isolate and culture the species anddetermine potential bloom toxicity using bioassays on juvenile sheepshead minnows, blue crab larvae, and juvenile oysters. ODU scientists are coordinating with researchers from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s (VIMS) Department of Aquatic Health Sciences, who are also monitoring the bloom. The research team plans to share their findings with NCCOS, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District,state agencies, and other stakeholders via the Virginia Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force communications network.

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) is providing $88,000 in emergency funds to aid Washington State to respond to an unprecedented West Coast harmful algal bloom (HAB) event.The funding supports collection and analysis of samples for the toxic algal bloom species Pseudo-nitzschia and domoic acid—the neurotoxin it produces-from beaches and offshore of Washington State.

Razor clams contaminated with domoic acid can cause illness to human consumers. Credit: NOAA.

These data, together with analysis of the oceanographic and meteorological conditions, will help identify factors contributing to the HAB outbreak and its severity, and predict whether the algal bloom will continue throughout the remainder of the year or recur in future years. The information is critical for warning the public during the upcoming popular razor clam harvesting season between late August and October.

Project partners include the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the University of Washington, including the Olympic Region HAB Partnership, Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Quileute Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, and Makah Tribe, NOAA Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and the Pacific Northwest Regional Ocean Observing System, which is the Pacific Northwest regional component of the NOAA-led U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System.

An unprecedented West Coast harmful algal bloom (HAB) continues, hurting Pacific Coast marine wildlife and causing economic losses to commercial shell fishers from Alaska to California. NCCOS sponsored scientists are participating in the event response and providing information to the public.

Recently, NCCOS sponsored scientist Dr. Vera Trainer of NOAA Fisheries joined Washington and Oregon state fish and wildlife officials in an informative interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting. The 16 minute interview, entitled ‘ Toxic Algae Bloom off the Coast is Vast,’ discusses the bloom, its causes, and economic impacts. The interview is part of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s ‘Think Out Loud’ program.

NCCOS is providing Event Response Program and grant funding to help monitor, map and analyze the toxic bloom. Most recently, whales have been reported dying in Alaska, possibly from the bloom.

Persistent concerns about toxins in Toledo, Ohio’s drinking water following August’s large, cyanobacteria bloom in Lake Erie prompted a follow-up investigation supported by NCCOS. At the time, the bloom led the City of Toledo to issue a two-day, drinking water ban for 400,000 people in Toledo and surrounding areas after drinking water samples showed high levels of microcystin – a toxin known to come from the bloom.

NCCOS supports the research of SUNY’s Dr. Greg Boyer, a leading expert on cyanobacteria toxins and analytical identification techniques. Credit: Greg Boyer, SUNY ESF.

NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response funding enabled NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory to partner with a State University of New York (SUNY) cyanotoxin rapid response service lab, previously established by NCCOS, to analyze water samples taken around a water intake managed by the City of Toledo.

The SUNY lab analyzed the samples for a suite of cyanotoxins known or suspected to have human health implications. The team found elevated levels of microcystin-LR and some of its variants, which both exceeded World Health Organization guidelines, but otherwise detected no cyanotoxins.

NOAA and the SUNY rapid response lab immediately shared the findings with Toledo, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and other regional utility managers in need of timely, accurate data to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water to municipalities along the shores of Lake Erie.

NCCOS is supporting the rapid deployment of self-propelled underwater robotic gliders to map an emerging red tide bloom in the Gulf of Mexico. The bloom of Karenia brevis, Florida Red Tide,was detected by an NCCOS-sponsored new modeling tool on July 23 and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC)promptlyissued a public red tide notice alerting the public of the bloomin the northeast Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles offshore of Hernando County.

The Slocum glider that is being used to map the red tide bloom (credit University of South Florida Center for Ocean Technology).

Through theNCCOS Event Response Program, twogliders will be deployed in tandem by theUniversity of South Florida College of Marine ScienceandMote Marine Laboratory. Eachglider has different sensors, depth ranges, and mission capabilities, whichwill provide a rapid and comprehensive assessment of bloom boundaries and depth for use in both validating model assessments and refining model predictions on bloom properties and future movements. Glider tracks will be availableon line.

Red tide blooms produce toxins that can contaminate edible shellfish and cause respiratory illness when aerosolized toxins are inhaled near beaches. The economic losses to fisheries and tourism exceed $25millionannuallyin Florida alone, with higher costs if human health issues are considered. NCCOS event response support will provide information to the FWC to improve the state’s response and aid natural resource and public health managers.

The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program is assisting the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) respond to and document the first cyanobacteria harmful algal bloom (cyanoHAB ) in Presque Isle Bay, along the south shore of Lake Erie. Researchers sampled the small scale bloom near Presque Isle State Park in late July, and testing confirmed the presence of cyanobacteria species Microcystis, Aphanizomenon, and Anabaena. Additionally, these water samples had cyanotoxin microcystin levels that, based on World Health Organization guidelines, posed a high risk to recreational water users.

Based on these results, PA DEP issued a public advisory on August 2. NCCOS support, approved on August 13, will help PA DEP and park managers continue elevated cyanoHAB toxin monitoring through the busy Labor Day weekend and mobilize in-kind cyanoHAB monitoring assistance from the operational MERHAB Lower Great Lakes (MERHAB-LGL ) program. Pennsylvania Sea Grant is also providing support. Responders do not expect the bloom to extend to Presque Isle beaches, but NCCOS assistance will enable PA DEP, park managers, and local scientists to safeguard public health and document this unusual HAB event.

The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program is assisting the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) respond to and document the first cyanobacteria harmful algal bloom (cyanoHAB ) in Presque Isle Bay, along the south shore of Lake Erie. Researchers sampled the small scale bloom near Presque Isle State Park in late July, and testing confirmed the presence of cyanobacteria species Microcystis, Aphanizomenon, and Anabaena. Additionally, these water samples had cyanotoxin microcystin levels that, based on World Health Organization guidelines, posed a high risk to recreational water users.

Based on these results, PA DEP issued a public advisory on August 2. NCCOS support, approved on August 13, will help PA DEP and park managers continue elevated cyanoHAB toxin monitoring through the busy Labor Day weekend and mobilize in-kind cyanoHAB monitoring assistance from the operational MERHAB Lower Great Lakes (MERHAB-LGL ) program. Pennsylvania Sea Grant is also providing support. Responders do not expect the bloom to extend to Presque Isle beaches, but NCCOS assistance will enable PA DEP, park managers, and local scientists to safeguard public health and document this unusual HAB event.

The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program approved a request supporting rapid response to a harmful algal bloom (HAB) in the Indian River Lagoon system of East Central Florida. Dr. Chris Gobler from Stonybrook University will work with the St. Johns River Water Management District to map the extent of the 2013 Brown Tide bloom in Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. Dr. Gobler and his team will assess bloom effects on zooplankton grazing and the role of nutrients in promoting blooms, and help convene a September public forum hosted by the not-for-profit Marine Discovery Center. This follows a 2012 NCCOS Event Response effort that documented the brown tide in these Florida lagoons, previously found only in Texas, and that produced a new rapid, quantifiable genetic detection method.

In June 2010, five Alaskans exhibited signs of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) linked to eating shellfish tainted with the algal toxin, saxitoxin. Two of these people died soon after onset of PSP symptoms, and the state confirmed PSP as the cause of at least one of these fatalities. Alaska has vast shellfish resources yet currently conducts no routine screening for safety of recreationally-harvested shellfish. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) uses the mouse bioassay (MBA) for regulatory testing of commercial shellfish in Alaska. However, the reliance of ADEC on the MBA has limited the agency’s ability to rapidly screen shellfish for toxins (e.g., in samples collected from the area of the reported PSP events near Haines, Alaska in 2010). Disadvantages of the MBA include the use of live animals and the difficulty of processing large numbers of samples on the same day.

Antibody-based toxin screening methods like the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) have been found to be suitable for screening large numbers of shellfish and seawater samples to rapidly assess the presence of toxins. Washington State currently uses ELISA tests in conjunction with MBA testing to justify regulatory actions. NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program funding was requested to help introduce rapid harmful algal bloom screening tools in Alaska. The funds helped support a training workshop on the Abraxis ELISA for PSP toxins. The workshop was held in March 2011 in Ketchikan, Alaska and was led by Kate Sullivan (University of Alaska Southeast and the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring Partnership) and NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Phytoplankton Monitoring Network. Participants included researchers and regulators from the Alaska Departments of Environmental Conservation and Fish and Game; researchers and educators from the University of Alaska system; and industry representatives, including commercial shellfisheries directors, as well as shellfish farmers directly affected by harmful algal bloom events.