By Tony Hicks –
The red algae bloom in the San Francisco Bay killing hundreds, if not thousands, of fish since last week likely won’t end for at least a couple weeks, as the warm weather gets hotter going into Labor Day weekend, according to experts.
Environmental agencies held a press conference Monday afternoon saying the bloom – which has been reported from the Dumbarton Bridge to Oakland’s Lake Merritt and the Alameda Estuary, Oyster Point, Baywinds Park in Foster City, Hayward, Keller Beach, Point Molate, and Sausalito – may come from a harmful species called Heterosigma akashiwo.
It’s a swimming marine algae that forms toxic surface aggregations. The species name is derived from “red tide” in Japanese.
“We do not know how long it’s going to last,” said Eileen White, the executive officer for San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board. “We’re still studying it and monitoring it on a regular basis. Unfortunately, we have not seen an algae bloom of this particular species of this magnitude in San Francisco Bay ever before, that we know of.
“It’s suspected it will probably last a couple weeks with the warm weather,” White said. “Algae blooms usually happen in warm weather.”
The bloom was first observed in July in the Alameda/Oakland area. The algae may be impacting dissolved oxygen concentrations which could be contributing to the fish deaths.
Officials said it’s unclear how toxic the bloom is. Crews of biologists are gathering information and fish necropsies are being scheduled.
They also don’t have an accurate count of how many fish are dead; the official count as of Friday was at least 100 striped bass and less than 10 sturgeon and mussel deaths. There have also been reports of rays dying in Lake Merritt.
James Hobbs, Environmental Program Manager of the Bay Delta Region of the California Department of Fish and Game, said dozens of sturgeon have been killed – at least seven white sturgeon in San Pablo Bay – and at least hundreds of striped bass just between the San Mateo and Dunbarton bridges.
“Those numbers are probably gross undercounting of what’s total in the bay,” Hobbs said.
White said it’s the most dense algae bloom in the South Bay in more than 40 years.
Though Heterosigma akashiwo isn’t known to cause illness in humans, it can cause eye and skin irritation and the water should be avoided, White said.
“We do know with warming climate we had the driest January through March on record,” said White. “That that may have been a contributing cause, but we’re not sure what the cause is.”
No recommendations have been issued regarding eating fish caught in the by, though an annual quarantine regarding mussels along the California coast is now in place.
“This type of organism has been detected in San Francisco Bay before, but not to this level,” said Jenna Rinde, Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We really don’t understand mechanisms that’s causing these fish kills.”
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Its rather simple.
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The water is stagnant and surface exposure isn’t enough to release the built up CO2.
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Instead of running around with their heads cut off exclaiming “climate change”, maybe a responsible agency or two should install aeration equipment to circulate and oxygenate the waters.
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Why can’t these scientists form a hypotheses about the origin of the algae bloom? Instead they’re shrugging their shoulders and saying “Probably climate change.”
No, it hasn’t been a warm summer. And if three dry months are the cause of the cause of algae bloom, why did it start in Alameda then jump to SF and then finally spread to adjacent areas?
Throw a few tons of chili, sugar and lime into they bay and you have plenty of Nước Chấm for everyone …
Perhaps the filth from homeless contributed to the excess bloom. I know August, or any month spelled without an R is considered off months for shell fish, as any diver would know.
I agree about the unusual cool summer. Certainly NOT global warming. Climate has always changed, so nothing new or alarming there.
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You clearly have not lived very long in the Diablo Valley. Back in the 70s and 80s when days and days of 100° or higher was typical.
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It HAS been a cool summer.
You aren’t a scientist…..You’re not from around here are you? Concord is usually in the mid-90s -100 this time of year. The coming hot week does not make it a hot summer. Go gaslight somewhere else.
Even with the few heat waves we’ve had this year, the nights have been cooling down. We usually have hot summer nights, and it wasn’t unusual for it to be in the high 80 degrees at midnight.
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/cag/county/time-series/CA-013/tmax/12/8/1895-2022
Reminder: your recollection is a subjective and non-reliable data piece. Also, the weather is seasonal and refers to mostly atmospheric conditions. Climate is when you look at the bigger, more stretched out activity and how it relates to stimuli that exist outside of just atmospheric incidents. For example, climate can draw causalities because it can examine how the air temperature effects a population. The weather just lets you know what the temperature could be that day
Linked above are the yearly maximum temperature averages from Contra Costa Couny, 1970 – to now. Overall there is a 20° rise.
Your understanding of what a hot day is and feels like from 1970 would have melted by just going to another state. And your ability to suck it up does not indicate anything. No matter how many letters you capitalize, I doubt you had weeks or months worth of 100° weather in this county in the 70’s. Even if it was 100° for a couple days or a whole month back then does not refute climate change. Your lack of understanding is not a solid counterpoint.
You Aren’t A Scientist,
The summer of 2022 has been a cooler summer compared to the normal or average summer that we usually have, just as 2021 was a much more windy year compared to the wind we received in a normal or average years of the past.
Interesting, the “scientists” were wrong when they claimed we were headed for a period of “global cooling,” they were wrong when they claimed we were headed for a period of “global warming,” they then claimed we were headed for a period of “climate change” so that they could never be wrong again, and now you’re telling us the scientific definition that we should actually use is “things are changing at a faster pace than they should naturally.”
Danger ineffectual – Reminder, they weren’t collecting weather data in Concord in 1895. The early data you’ve listed are extrapolations.
And no, there was not an overall 20 degree rise. That would be insane.
Go look at pictures from early Concord. The landscape, vegetation, dry fields etc are the same as they are today.
@yoyohop
Of course it’s an extrapolation, they are averages. You do understand how statistics work right?
Black and white photos will look dry. Good thing that the people who really work in the field don’t relay on photos. Keep trying.
@yoyohop
Yes, a 20° rise is insane. That’s why people are saying there is an issue. You are catching up.
Danged… The very data you linked doesn’t even show an increase of 20 degrees.
Are you AL Gore?
@Danged ineffectual Is this why NASA & NOAA keep resetting their statistics to the lowest recent year and try to delete all of the prior data from their websites? It was much hotter, dryer, and more burned acres in the 1930’s why are the “Climate Scientists” trying to hide it? Go check out Happer and Dyson because you are a fooled fool.
Could it be a low fresh water effluent? If there was more fresh water coming down, water temps would be cooler, and higher flows would also decrease the residence time of the water in the Bay & Delta. The ocean is 55*F today. Incoming tides are cooler, and the fresh water flow would perhaps normally reduce the temps all over the estuary.
The warmer the water, the less the amount of saturated O2. Bad for sturgeon, they like high levels of dissolved O2. Perhaps the sturgeon will head for the Columbia, and other high flow fresh water tributaries along the coast…
(F&G tagging info in the 60’s confirmed tagged fish from the bay here were caught all the way up in to Alaska, and the Columbia, and other rivers along the PNW.
“Justifiable Languor” posted the very possibly I was going to propose! The reports indicated that the algae bloom affected Lake Merritt but also found near SF. Now, with displacement occurring with the homeless they may be seeking other means to dispose of their “waste” matter!
Climate change is BS – let’s face it this growth is human generated! Instead of hypothizing what could be maybe, lab test might reveal better facts!
Fish eat human waste.
I know you want to blame the homeless. Algae blooms have been popping up in the Bay Area, and ones that aren’t near homeless encampments. Lake Temescal has been closed for the past three summers due to blue algae. Humans had a hand in this and they weren’t specifically unhoused ones.