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A very large algae bloom in Lake Erie, North America, which can be seen from space. An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. [1]
The blooms can look like foam, scum or mats or like paint floating on the surface of the water, but they are not always visible. Nor are the blooms always green; they can be blue, and some cyanobacteria species are coloured brownish-red. The water can smell bad when the cyanobacteria in the bloom die. [30]
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) bloom on Lake Erie (United States) in 2009. These kinds of algae can cause harmful algal bloom. A harmful algal bloom (HAB), or excessive algae growth, is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, water deoxygenation, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means.
Ocean color is the branch of ocean optics that specifically studies the color of the water and information that can be gained from looking at variations in color. The color of the ocean, while mainly blue, actually varies from blue to green or even yellow, brown or red in some cases. [1]
These blooms occur in areas of high nutrient loading, historical or current. During bloom formation, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae photosynthetically produces biomass. These accumulated mats of biomass can grow due to the concentration of nutrients available in eutrophic ecosystems accompanied by high reproductive rates and water temperatures.
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Eutrophication and harmful algal blooms can have economic impacts due to increasing water treatment costs, commercial fishing and shellfish losses, recreational fishing losses (reductions in harvestable fish and shellfish), and reduced tourism income (decreases in perceived aesthetic value of the water body). [42]
The amount of oxygen that can be dissolved in water depends on the atmospheric pressure, the water temperature and whether the water is salty. [7] For example, at 20 °C (68 °F) and one atmosphere of pressure, a maximum of 8 mg/L of oxygen can dissolve in sea water (35 mg/L salinity ) while a maximum of 9 mg/L of oxygen can dissolve in fresh ...