Townsville's beaches have been hit by a sudden bloom of thick marine algae, which scientists initially thought may have been an oil slick.
The trichodesmium algae, also known as the red tide, has forced the closure of The Strand and Alma Bay and has also been found in thick quantities in South Townsville.
Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Mark Pease says the marine algae occurs naturally but can be dangerous to humans, pets and other marine life.
"It has certainly been known to promote fish kills in the past, due to either reasons of the substance clogging up the gills or even being washed into a water body where it may start to decompose and lower the oxygen levels," Mr Pease said.
"We'll just be keeping an eye on some of the adjacent coastal waterways."
Now if any "scientsist" gets mixed up between algae and an oil slick then they need to find another job
Interesting over the past few days that satellite imagery is showing sun reflection in the coral sea, which basically means flat, still, calm conditions ideal for coral bleaching, algae growth and cyclone breeding. Might be a good cyclone season, at last, but then who remembers the last decent cyclone season ???
Cheers, Kerry.
"Now if any "scientsist" gets mixed up between algae and an oil slick then they need to find another job "
Mate ,the "scient-sist(s)"only realised after they found their hair wasn't dreadlocks ,a la brylcream ? , after all ,it was only brown algae ,or maybe an eagle from a great height
Kerry,
I remember 1974 / 75 was a "decent" season.
Beside the tragedy of Tracy at Darwin, there was one that came down the east coast (I think in early 75) and waves were crashing on the Front car park at Byron Bay and running down the main street. 3 or 4 (maybe more) houses ended up in the drink, the foundations of the entrance to the old surf clubhouse were waving in mid air, and the erosion stopped about 10m short of claiming the town swimming pool.
I was 6 at the time, but still remember some images. A few tries in the years since, but nothing as decent as that.
Gotta be due for another big one soon.
Cheers,
Jeff
Do long stalks on mangos mean a cyclone season?
I like to learn folklore; they had a lot more time, and reason, to notice small clues before we went all high tech.
I don't want a cyclone, just a decent amount of rain for a few years
Fishtime, up here the palms flowered early supposed to be sign of a wet/windy season, for what it is worth - time will tell, I think the mangos are water stressed?. nq
Apparently the crocodiles are nesting high on the banks this year. #Usually a predictor of a big wet or maybe the banks are high because there's little water in the rivers
Do you recon that the algae has something to do with the fact that coral spawn around this time of year? #The lack of rainfall (and associated cloud cover) encouranging rapid algae growth due to increased photosynthesis(also maybe dying spawn=sea compost?)
I'm a lay person, these are guesses but most people I speek to who live on the beaches recon the spawn (not the comic book character either) has something to do with it.
Any fishing is good fishing(should probably say Any fishing is...probably going to be illegal soon)
Jeff, I think everybody feels we're in for another big one soon, even the local weather guys are making mutterings but then every year we miss out, it starts to make one wonder.Originally Posted by Gorilla_in_Manila
1974/75 was about the time. That was David in early 75, which was fairly large but stayed well of the coast. Still rolled (completely wrote off) the harbour here upside down from a distance.
In the past 28 years there's been lots of new development, lots of hills cleared, lots of drainage patterns changed, lots of "new" houses, lots of new unknowns and really I believe some are going to be in for some big surprises and it's probably not going to need to be cat 5 to do it either.
Just about all Marina development has occured in the past 20 years plus all the new resorts and quite frankly I wouldn't like to have a boat in any marina in a cyclone. Way too many other peoples problems to get in the way.
If and when it's going to be real interesting.
Cheers, Kerry.
The latest Tropical Storm Risk has been released. Looks like being slightly down on average. Go to http://forecast.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/shado...astNov2003.pdf
As for the algae, it has coincided with the coral spawning in October and November. Some of our older locals refer to it as coral spawning. I'm almost as confused as the scientists (but it sure doesn't look or smell like oil!).
Kerry, would you be able to tell the difference between this algae and an oil slick?
Here's something to think about, Trichodesmids are actually blue-green algae. Yep, that's right the same sort of thing that fouls up freshwaterways and such. These things usually bloom as a result of rising temp, nutrient loads etc. When they're in bloom they look like an oil slick on the surface, it's not until you get close to them that you can tell.
This sort of thing has been happening along the coast since the days of Captain Cook so it's nothing new. The coral do spawn in October or November I think. Traditionally the full moon.
Just something to ponder. If you'd like to know more, do a google search for Trichodesmids
Cheers !
Paul.
This time of the year you'd have to be a journo and down on a story to realize otherwise. But I suppose each year every new batch of mexicans need some initiation #
This same old media crap and sensationalism has been going for years. Oil slicks my ar..
Mate, if it was an oil slick the length of the Qld coast and then some it would require half the Iraq oil fields, you know there's a lot of water along the entire Qld coast #
Cheers, Kerry.
I deny that I went swimming with sunscreen on!!!
Must be some GREAT photos with that Satellite they've been USING #"before" it got to the beach, you know, the one that can just about tell if your using too many hooks #
#
Surely it can see a boat AND an Algea bloom ??? OR did somebody leave the lens cap on #
By Helen Briggs BBC News Online environment correspondent
The Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world, could be under threat from a new form of algae.
Australian scientists say they are concerned that the blanket of golden algae could smother and kill the coral.
Seaweed-like fronds of the blooms have been seen for the past three summers on reefs north of the Queensland city of Cairns, which is popular with tourists.
Some areas were badly affected, said Dr Britta Schaffelke of the CRC Reef Research Centre in Townsville.
More study
When the algae were removed by hand, the underlying coral was noticeably bleached.
This suggests some of the coral had died, either before or after it was colonised.
Further research was needed to assess how big a threat to the Great Barrier Reef it might be, said Dr Schaffelke.
She told BBC News Online: "Currently, there is hardly anything known about the biology and ecology of this alga, hence, we don't have any evidence on impacts on corals or other organisms.
"We have some indication that it may pose a risk but further research needs to confirm these concerns."
'Golden noodle'
The species, Chrysocystis fragilis , has been dubbed the "golden noodle" alga because of its colour and shape.
It was first found on reefs around the island of Guam in the North Pacific Ocean in 1995.
A similar type of alga was spotted on the Great Barrier Reef in the 1980s but disappeared before it could be classified.
Scientists believe the microscopic photosynthetic organisms may have been newly introduced into the area.
Alternatively, they may have remerged after chronic disturbance of the reefs. Corals have been hit by disease, damage from starfish and bleaching.
Natural paradise
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world.
It consists of more than 3,000 individual reefs and covers an area of about 300,000 square kilometres off Australia's east coast.
Reefs are formed from thousands of tiny creatures known as coral polyps crowded together to form colonies.
Each polyp lives inside a hard shell, which we recognise as coral.
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