In Oregon and Washington state, there is a very large algae bloom. It isn’t exactly known why the algae is blooming, but recent storms have whipped them up and pushed them onto the shore. When they are mixed into the water, the algae becomes sticky and soap-like. This is a problem because it can remove the waterproofing of seabirds. Without this waterproofing, the seabirds can get hypothermia.
This type of algae doesn’t pose a threat to humans, but it has a possibility of killing fish by clogging their gills up. So far, thousands of different birds have died because of the algae foam. The only way for a seabird to get its waterproof coating back is when volunteers from local wildlife shelters take them in, feed them vitamins and let them preen themselves while they sit in a freshwater tank.
Could this foam have any serious effects on the ecosystem?
Can anything really be done at all by humans, or are we only able to watch?
1 Response to “A slimy foamy death.”
Unable to read the article that correlates with your post, I can only speculate and make an educated guess to answer your questions. I think this kind of algae bloom is an incredible response of nature and is somewhat like the article Mrs. Heitz showed to us the other day from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-478041/Cappuccino-Coast-The-day-Pacific-whipped-ocean-froth.html. I wonder if they have any connection to each other. The article from Daily Mail doesn’t discuss algae blooms, as you do here, but impurities in the ocean like seaweed excretions, chemicals, dead plants, and decomposed fish.
Seeing as how the waterproofing of birds can be removed and the foam can clog the fish gills, this algae bloom may have serious effects on the ecosystem. Fish and birds are near the top of the food web and would cause a top-down effect on the ecosystem. Depending on the length of this algae bloom, the population of birds and fish may plummet. If this were to happen, everything that they eat would become overpopulated and everything that ate them would have to find another food source or suffer the consequences as well. There is nothing humans can technically do without possibly screwing up the ecosystem even further if we were to intervene. I say we just let nature take its course.