A mixture of Lichens on a Burren forest branch. Lichens are the result of a symbiotic relationship between a Fungus and an Algae (and sometimes a Cyanobacteria joins them) - they take their water in as airborne moisture making their presence here an indicator of good air quality. County Clare, Ireland.
( #Quebec ’s #algae#industry is slow to take off, although it is generating interest among #culinary enthusiasts. But #Canada ’s demand for #seaweed is increasing annually by 9%, according to the Pacific Seaweed Growers Association. #SeaweedFarming represents more than one million direct jobs worldwide, according to World Bank statistics.)
Blue-Green algae is filling rivers with toxic sludge.
Harmful algal blooms are taking over as the world warms and grows richer in carbon dioxide—and there’s no easy fix.
“It’s starting to build. Tomorrow, you’ll find that there’s clumps like that all over the river—and then the day after that there’ll be more and more”.
Is this unusual for Lake Winnipeg? It's pretty #shallow, and shallow #waters get warm, which leads to #algae and related blooms.
Around #Regina, Buffalo Pound Lake famously gets huge blooms every year, and has for at least 40 years, maybe longer. #Wascana Lake, in the city, does too, although not as bad since they dug it deeper a few years ago, so it doesn't get as warm.
It just seems "normal", not a big newsworthy event?
Knowable Magazine reports: "Clear Lake, the state’s largest freshwater body of water, is fouled each year by algal blooms, one of many assaults endured by the battered ecosystem. Can a multipronged plan help it recover?"
We generally think that over-fishing is about fish that humans eat. But around a third of all wild-caught fish are turned into fishmeal, because fishmeal is around 65% protein and therefore in demand for for feeding farmed fish and pigs. It's an almost invisible trade with huge consequences. But it's not an efficient way to make more protein. We need to re-think these links and ask whether it's really worth the damage to the ocean & communities.#ocean#fish#fishmeal
While krill have been spotted thousands of feet deep on the #seafloor, they also come up to the surface of the water to feed on #algae that absorb #CarbonDioxide.
and technical channels to try to find a solution to finally reach consensus on designating the proposed protected areas.”
Personal Action
While global action is needed to protect Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, there’s a lot individuals can do, too. One of the biggest drivers of the krill fishing industry are omega-3 #supplements. But consumers have other options besides krill, including marine #algae.
Just listened to a great episode of BBC R4’s The Food Programme, all about eating for brain health: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001p6yx BUT the one thing they didn’t mention, among all the focus on how essential omega-3 fatty acids are, is that you don’t need to eat seafood to get them. Fish/shellfish don’t make omega-3s themselves - they get them from their own diet. We can too, via marine algae supplements. So no fish have to be harmed in the name of brain health. #diet#fish
You've likely heard that ½ the world's #oxygen comes from the ocean. Given #algae are only 1% of the biomass of land plants, how can that be? #Phytoplankton grow rapidly, doubling every day or so, and don't have structural elements like trunks or roots.
*But all living things respire using O2 as well (incl algae), so this % is a very long view since O2 levels have been stable for ~500 M years. #carbon
I saw this #NYT article about “toxic slime” (or rather, a type of cyanobacteria) that feeds on the phosphorus from agricultural runoff. The cyanobacteria is dangerous to touch or ingest, and even the fumes can cause lung and organ damage.