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8/19/2024
WT Staff
 August 19, 2024 520 pm PDT
NCCOS: Where bluegreen is detected, the cautious approach presumes toxins are present
WT HAB Tracker
from the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science(NCCOS) and State sources where available
WT caught up with R.P. Stumpf, Ph.D., NOAA Oceanographer and project head for the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science HAB monitoring program about the high concentration level HABs observed throughout the projects, and specifically in Lake Erie. According to Stumph, "The concentration was high, but not unusual for a bloom expected to be in the severity 6 range. The bloom in Lake Erie had been developing slowly over the last couple of weeks, and with the calm weather it had the opportunity to concentrate." Similar concentrations have been observed in Louisiana inland water bodies over the few last weeks, including Lac des Allemands, Wetland Watchers Park, the Burnside Pond. More recently Bayou Fortier and Lake Fields have also presented with multi-million cells per 10 ml concentration.
Stumph points to the goals of the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network CyAN project of the US EPA, here to "develop a uniform and systematic approach for identifying cyanobacteria blooms across the contiguous U.S. using ocean satellites" and "to characterize exposure and human health effects using ocean color satellites in drinking water sources and recreational waters."
The CyAN program is to be used as a research tool. Stumph explained that CyAN does not declare the outcomes and implications of the HAB early warning system. Public health communication, says Stumph, "is a state/county responsibility, driven by their health departments or equivalent--coordinated with their environmental agencies. The CyAN goal is to provide guidance that allows the agencies to make appropriate decisions on warnings, monitoring, and the like. We have found that toxins are usually present when CyAN detects a bloom. If there is an assumption by state/county that CyAN detect means risk, then use of CyAN data provides a conservative warning--errs on the side of caution.
The detection and tracking of the cyanobacteria by satellite is without question valuable. What is interesting is the response and reaction of state health authorities on what is ultimately communicated to the public, and when. WT tracks the near daily uploaded satellite images from Stumph and his team for trans-boundary water bodies Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, as well as the southeast Louisiana water bodies. While Ohio State departments do report algal toxin test results in a publicly accessible format, we have yet to find regular cyanotoxin reporting in Louisiana, New York and Canadian jurisdictions. More to follow.
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS is a perfectly clear image captured August 18 at low wind speed 2 mph, Lac des Allemands and Bayou Fortier hotspots have expanded in area and increased in concentration in both water bodies. The highest concentrations interpreted from the latest picture exceed 4 millon cells per 100 ml. Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas remain void of bluegreen while further south, Field Lake is full of the stuff at increasing concentration, 3 million cells per 100 ml would not be an exaggeration of the status. Check out the latest satellite image from NCCOS here.
Lake Erie west basin
The latest satellite image of Lake Erie West basin was captured August 19 at very high wind speed, 21.1 mph. This and the previous image snapped yesterday are mostly cloud obscured with bits and pieces of bluegreen bloom showing up in the cloud breaks. The patchy information from the August 19 image shows concentration around 1 million cells per 100 ml around Maumee Bay and North Maumee Bay, around 500 to 600 thousand cells per 100 ml in open water. See the NCCOS images here.
New York
The latest image of Lake Champlain was captured yesterday, Aug 18 under heavy cloud conditions. Apiece of the northeast Baie Missisquoi HAB is visible in a cloud break, the concentration down to 600 thousand cells per 100 ml. The last clear image was acquired August 14, this same bluegreen bloom on that date at concentration 1 to 3 million cells per 100 ml. See our NY HAB report here.
From NYS Department of Environmental Conservation: Active HAB reports have dropped off to 139 overnight as reports lodged prior to August 5 found their way to the archives. New to the impacted water bodies list for this season are Niger Pond in Suffolk County, unnamed water bodies near Grandyle Village in Erie County and Jamaica Hill in Queens. See the impacted water bodies list here, updates are in progress.
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