CAPE CORAL, Fla. — For people living in Cape Coral, warmer temperatures mean all eyes go to the canals.
On Monday, people who live along the Killer Canal in Cape Coral noticed green algae.
“It's all blowing in this corner and it's covered in a thick layer of green algae,” said one neighbor.
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told Fox 4's Colton Chavez that the green muck was actually Filamentous Green Algae, and it doesn’t produce any toxins.
FOX 4's learned from previous reporting that algae like Pithophora, which was spotted in a Cape canal back in February, was actually beneficial for the canal.
Dr. Barry Rosen is a researcher and professor at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU).
He tells Fox 4 about the difference between blue-green algae and other blooms.
“Its actually a very healthy organism that should be in there. It's soaking up the nutrients that might be in the canal making them unavailable for potential harmful algal blooms,” said Dr. Rosen.
As water releases continued to flow from Lake Okeechobee with the possible threat of blue-green algae blooms, the DEP encourages people to report algal blooms.
To make a report, you can contact their hotline at 1-855-305-3903 or through the online reporting system found here.
Homeowners can also check the status of a bloom in their area by using the DEP's algal bloom dashboard: Algal Bloom Monitoring and Response dashboard [floridadep.gov].
