The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association has released a new plan that will help protect humans and marine life from certain toxins. It sounds like the title of this holiday season’s biggest horror film at the box office -- The attack of the Harmful Algal Bloom!
But it’s true, these Harmful Algal Blooms, or HABs, are aqua-based invasive species that reproduce and spread like wildfire. And Coastal Louisiana is putting its boot-bearing foot down. The new plan is to establish an observing system to monitor and eventually reduce the negative impacts they cause.
HAB outbreaks bring on fish kills and sickness to people, endangered sea turtles, sea birds, dolphins and manatees. They also hike the bill for coastal managers who are left to deal with the effects, which leads to economic losses to recreational and commercial fisheries.
The Harmful Algal Bloom Integrated Observing System uses high-resolution video to identify harmful varieties of plankton, and then sends that data in real time to an online portal. This information provides earlier warning for when a toxic bloom occurs. It’s becoming more urgent to mitigate these, as climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of HAB outbreaks in the future.