News and views, and history and humor, about the lake I love.

"I can hear my granddad's stories of the storms out on Lake Erie, where vessels and cargos and fortunes, and sailors' lives were lost." ~ James Taylor, Millworker

Friday, September 2, 2011

Algae bloom persists in Western Lake Erie

MERIS image from the European Space Agency. Imagery shows the spectral shape at 681 nm from August 28, where colored pixels indicate the likelihood of the last known position of the Microcystis spp. bloom (with red being the highest concentration). Microcystis spp. abundance data from shown as white squares (very high), circles (high), diamonds (medium), triangles (low) , + (very low) and X (not present). Please note: Colored pixels in Sandusky Bay are due to a mixed bloom dominated by Planktothrix spp. (Image caption from the HAB Bulletin - Courtesy NOAA)
The latest HAB Bulletin, issued yesterday based on imagery acquired on August 28th, states that a large Microcystis bloom continues in Western Lake Erie. Due to a large cloud present the models do not show the protential full extent of the bloom. Wind conditions and high temperatures are conducive for bloom intensification. View a PDF of the bulletin, with imagery, here.

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