NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — Blue-green Algae blooms continue to prompt health alerts in Lee County — including alerts on Tuesday for Jaycee Park in Cape Coral and Moody ramp in North Fort Myers.
Saturday morning Fox 4 viewer Kevin Krutz sent video of Hancock Creek at Moody Ramp covered in algae.
While it looked much better at the ramp Wednesday, less than a mile down the road, a canal connected to Hancock Creek was covered with algae.
Fox 4 Meteorologist Andrew Shipley took a sample to Florida Gulf Coast University's Water School to find out what kind of algae is blooming.
"So that is a very big chunk of organism called Microcystis aeruginosa,” said Dr. Barry Rosen, as he looked at the water sample under a microscope.
Microcystis aeruginosa is a type of blue-green algae known for producing toxins, but Dr. Rosen couldn’t say if there were toxins in the sample. Florida DEP is currently looking into if there are toxins after a sample was taken Monday. In the meantime, health alerts have been issued.
"It's a health alert because you don't know if that bloom does all concentrate in one area and a child goes in there and drinks it,” said Dr. Rosen. “Or any other recreation where we think they might be exposed to it."
And while it can be toxic, Dr. Rosen said you only need to worry if it is ingested, unlike red tide.
"We know it is not like brevotoxin, which comes from red tide,” said Dr. Rosen. “It doesn't aerosolize like that. We just got through with an experiment where we are finding very little is getting into the air."
Dr. Rosen says it is not only toxic to humans but also our pets. He says if your dog swims in effected water, they could receive a very high dose.
"The question is how much is there that they get inside,” said Dr. Rosen. “And when we look at mortality, at micrograms of toxin per kilogram of body weight. So, you have to have the right amount of toxin to cause it."
And below that threshold, Dr. Rosen says it can cause gastrointestinal illness.
With blue-green algae continuing to bloom across Southwest Florida, Fox 4 asked Dr. Rosen how much longer this will last.
"As long as it is warm and as long as the rain keeps washing nutrients from the landscape into the water it has all it needs," said Dr. Rosen.
So how do we get rid of these blooms?
"Well, you can't go to Ohio because they have blooms up there. Can't go to Michigan, they go blooms up there. Can't go to Oregon," said Dr. Rosen. "You have artificial canals, and you have artificial nutrient additions. You can't turn it back into a swimming pool. It's not going to happen."
While Dr. Rosen couldn't tell me if toxins were present in the sample that Fox 4 brought to the lab, he said you should act as if there are. DEP will have the results on toxicity of the water later this week.
