Environmental News 27.1.15 Part II: Pretty but deadly toxin sparkles off Hong Kongs beaches Though it LOOKS beautiful, the luminescent algal bloom that has been shimmering in the waters along the seashore of Hong Kong is the rather repulsive result of pig poo, fertilizers and sewerage. It is also toxic and can be lethal to plants and animals, leaving wide expanses of dead water where NOTHING can survive in its swirling green/blue wake. The bloom is caused by Noctiluca scintillans - tiny little dinoflagellates which eat algae and become abundant when nitrogen and phosphorous from farm fertilizers abound. Noctiluca is a type of single-cell life that eats plankton and is eaten by other species. says the Associated Press’s Seth Borenstein. Noctilucas role as both prey and predator can eventually magnify the accumulation of algae toxins in the food chain. He said adding that there is a huge dead zone in the Arabian Sea as a result of Noctiluca which killed off native algae and compromised the fish population. Few animals can survive these dead zones of oxygen-poor water but N. scintillans thrives in these conditions and once a dead zone sets in, its hard for the ocean to recover. Said Gwynn Guilford of Quartz. Many scientists meanwhile, suspect the recent surge in Noctiluca in Hong Kong is as a result of population growth in all the cities all along the Pearl River Delta - the strip of China just north of Hong Kong. Home to Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Guangzhou, to name just a few of its mega-cities, the PRD’s population has tripled in just a few decades to more than 66m. smh.au/environment/the-killer-algae-making-hong-kongs-water-glow-20150123-12xajk.html
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 20:44:03 +0000
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