CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The temperature is heating up in the air, and the water. We know that blue-green algae is something we deal with in the summer, but the Calusa Waterkeepers tell me it's early in the season for canals to look like this...
"Every choice you make as you work around your yard and house can have an impact," said Jason Pim, a long-time resident and Calusa Waterkeeper volunteer.
For Pim, blue-green algae is nothing new.
"I remember in 2016, 2018, being concerned about taking friends and family out on the boat for July 4th and hanging out in the water," said Pim. "Then now, these last three years, it seems to be happening a lot earlier."
I drove around Southeast Cape, and found blue-green algae in several places, especially off Cornwallis Parkway.
"Our storm, water runoff, whether it's a residence, whether it's agriculture, farm, golf course, it all is high in nutrients and all runs off in a storm," said Pim. "Unless we're going to be better stewards of our land, it's going to end up in the water."
He says the water will end up looking like this, which isn't great, but the important question is whether or not it's harmful.
"Typically you would think that the canals in South Cape coral should have a high enough salt content to not have a fresh water harmful algae and likely we've been experiencing so often," said Pim.
As I continued to drive around, I met a couple of people like Wayne Kass, who have large concentrations of the algae in their backyards.
"Some places get a bigger concentration. Again, that's all due to weather wind, you know where it gets pushed, so you see different amounts in different canals," said Wayne Kass, a long-time resident.
The Lee County Department of Health sent out a cautionary notice on Thursday about harmful blooms from the Caloosahatchee River that they've seen in one Southeast Cape Coral canal.
"Because of everything we deal with here I go far out before I get in the water," said Kass. "I'll go six miles or 12 miles out, and I'll go swimming in that water. I don't swim this water anymore."
I collected a sample from behind Wayne's house. Our team is taking it to FGCU's Water School to see if the algae is harmful. We'll let you know what we find out.
