The Surprising Cause of Harmful Algal Blooms

There are thousands of species of algal blooms, and most are beneficial to the environment.  but harmful algal blooms are different, and can be found in our local rivers.

Redwood News spoke to Indigenous Agricultural Consultant Topsanna Littlestar about the surprising cause of these harmful blooms.

“It’s happening because there’s deforestation, and then because of monoculture farming, so large scale farming systems and dairies, anything that has a large grouping of nitrates and phosphates or dumping on the soil,” says Littlestar, “and those nitrates and phosphates are all, um, liquid soluble.  so as soon as that rain or we have any type of flooding it’s all out of the soil. Groundwater go into the river, systems run right out into any bays or our oceans and estuary and create eutrophication zones, which is just a big word for a large collection of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphates that will make the algae so their populations will explode and they will essentially digest all of the oxygen.”

This effect can decimate local ecosystems if left unchecked.

Though frustrating, Littlestar says this issue could be solved by switching to sustainable farming practices.

She also adds that if you see algae and don’t know whether it’s harmful or beneficial, it’s best to do your research before interacting with it.