Is the region in for another bad algae season? Scientists monitor blooms, temperatures, drought

With the height of algae season still months away, warm weather water woes are already starting to make their presence felt in Southwest Florida.

From sludgey scum hugging Matlacha pilings to neon green slicks lapping the Caloosahatchee River shoreline to a fish kill in Bonita Springs’ Imperial River, recent weeks have seen an increase in events “signaling an imbalance” in the region’s natural systems, as Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani describes it.

Yet COVID-19 has sent the state agencies that normally look after water quality into disaster mode, while work by both the state's red tide and blue-green algae task forces has been suspended for at least the near future.

“Right now, we’re just on standby,” said blue-green algae task force member Mike Parsons, an FGCU marine science professor, though he continues to sample area waters. “I don’t think we’ll meet again before July or August.”

Meanwhile, the region’s increasing temperatures and lack of rainfall create the kind of conditions needed for algae blooms.

“As the water warms, it basically just stagnates because we’ve had this drought condition,” said Parsons. “So some blooms are to be expected this time of year.”

More:How might blue-green algae affect human health? This multifaceted study aims to find out.

What concerns Cassani is the potential for what he calls a mega-bloom. “Since about 2013, we’ve started to see these periodic oxbow blooms as early as March or April, but when you have a long period of time between major runoff events like now, (March was the driest on record) the first big gusher brings in massive amounts of nutrients,” he said. “So when that first big flush comes, it delivers a massive slug of nutrients (that) we’re worried will precipitate a massive cyanobacteria bloom. No guarantee that’ll happen, but this (weather pattern) just increases the probability that it will.”

Some blue-green algae, like those currently appearing in patches in the upper reaches of the Caloosahcthee, can produce toxins studies have linked to serious health problems, including liver and neurodegenerative diseases.

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Others, like the algae that’s sliming Matlacha, are more likely simply obnoxious. When the wind is right (or wrong) “The smell is worse than rotten eggs,” said Harriet Williams, whose house sits right over the bloom. “It’s horrible … and the smell seeps into our house sometimes. I just want to make sure it’s not dangerous.”

Cassani thinks it’s probably not. Based on an ID by Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation research scientist Rick Bartleson, he’s pretty sure it’s a marine algal species called Caulerpa fastigiata. “This stuff carpets the bottom, and when the water gets clear like it is now, it photosynthesizes and gasses  up, then is buoyed to the surface,” he said, though he doesn’t deny its smelly ugliness. “It looks like someone dumped their bilge on their boat.”

Another thing that might be related are reports of schools of an African cichlid fish around Pine Island “that has a high salinity tolerance and can just about take full-strength seawater called a black-chin tilapia … So I don’t know if they’re responding to the increase in the macroalga – everything’s out of whack, it seems like.”

The region’s watery environment has taken a series of blows, including 2017’s Hurricane Irma, 2018’s catastrophic red tide and cyanobacteria blooms and an oxygen-starved dead zone in the Gulf last year that was the second-largest on record.

“So the one safe assumption is that systems are still in recovery,” Cassani said.

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Parsons points to a positive: “Upstream, as the waters warm and we’re in these stagnant conditions, we’re kind of expecting it to bloom, but we’re not seeing it yet downstream, which is good news.”

Of course, the wet season still lies ahead, “when Mother Nature turns the water faucets on and we have to start discharging (from Lake O),” he said.

Much as COVID-19 has been in the forefront,  Parsons said scientists are eager to continue their work on water quality issues.

“We have to keep our eye on the ball,” he said. “It’s still on our radar and everyone’s still trying to do their jobs, given the restrictions.”