Algae Blooms / Runoff
See also Ocean, Marine Mammals, Water, Sewage, as well Acidification/ Coral Reefs and Chemicals.
Contents
News Sources
Grist.org algae, red tide, dead zone.
News / Reports
Red Tide Plagues Both of Florida's Coasts for First Time in Decades 10/18.
What is causing Florida’s algae crisis? 5 questions answered (good background/ overview).
Red Tide in Santa Cruz 11/13.
Climate and Algal Blooms audio 10/13.
Annual nitrogen flush affects Great Lakes. 3/13
Manatee Deaths From Red Tide: Algae Blamed For Killing 174 Of The Endangered Species In 2013
NOAA Algae research; Algae blooms info from NOAA (Wayback archive), ECOHAB including work by UCSC
Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico from fertilizer.
Nitrogen cycle. To Save Our Ecosystems, Stop Overloading Them: Left alone, natural systems keep nitrogen, carbon, and other key ingredients of life balanced. (Infographic).
Interactive map of marine dead zones and more on eutrophication
Microbe that can clean up dead zones includes map.
Excellent article on plastic in the Pacific Gyre
Sharks off Santa Cruz City on a Hill.
Dolphin Attack from City on a Hill
Stormwater pollution in SF Bay (good overview).
Runoff
Background overview NIH and EPA.
Dead zones Nat Geo, see also EPA.
Agricultural
97% of Endangered Species Threatened by 3 Common Pesticides 4/16.
EPA site including Agricultural Chemicals.
CHLORPYRIFOS PESTICIDE HARMS SALMON AND ORCAS, GOVERNMENT REPORT SAYS: Organophosphate pesticides jeopardize salmon survival and destroy their critical habitat 1/18.
Trump Administration Seeks Two-Year Delay on Pesticide Assessments Following Industry Request 11/17.
Farms Could Slash Pesticide Use Without Crop Losses, Research Reveals: Virtually all farms could significantly cut their pesticide use while producing just as much food. 4/17
Pesticides Cause 'Catastrophic' Harm to People and Planet, UN Report Says 3/17.
Annual nitrogen flush affects Great Lakes. 3/13
Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico from fertilizer.
Kimberly Levin’s gripping debut feature film RUNOFF is getting people talking about what goes into our food, the way we treat our land and water, and the ethical questions at the heart of everyday survival. 8/15.
Strange Days on Planet Earth from National Geographic chemical runoff
Urban
From the Toilet to the Tap Today, cities around the world are shifting away from the historical focus of wastewater management (i.e. the miracle of making the wastewater go away somewhere where we can't see it) and adopting a new paradigm of re-use. David Sedlak, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Berkeley, studies wastewater and spoke about water recycling at the 2009 Nobel Conference on water conservation issues.
Constructed wetlands are cheaper and effective alternative to sewage treatment and runoff, eg nitrogen, The Arcata Marsh in Arcata, California is a sewage treatment and wildlife protection marsh. The Friends of the Arcata Marsh (FOAM) operate the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center.
Urban runoff killing coho salmon, but simple solution within reach: Filtration through column of soil and sand eliminates toxic effects of urban stormwater on fish
San Francisco Bay: Baykeeper report; 10/9 story on mercury in SF Bay; sewage spills April 09 video KQED Quest.
SF Bay runoff 2006 KQED Audio.
Maps and Infographics
Nitrogen cycle. To Save Our Ecosystems, Stop Overloading Them: Left alone, natural systems keep nitrogen, carbon, and other key ingredients of life balanced. (Infographic).
Interactive map of marine dead zones, causes) and more on eutrophication.
NGO Volunteer Organizations
Waterkeepers (related the Riverkeepers and Baykeepers) are activist whistleblowers who use ju jitsu by getting a bit of the fines for busting polluters to fund their operations. A recent action looks to shut down efforts to build the XL pipeline. It works on stormwater runoff (urban) as well as agricultural runoff See also Clean Water Act at 40.
San Francisco Baykeeper has info on stormwater, sewage spills, toxins and wetlands. 12/18.
CA Coastkeepers history), Orange County, LA, San Diego and others.
Surfrider Foundation ([background]) San Diego/TJ sewage,
Heal the Bay (LA) Santa Cruz report has info on whole state.
Save the Bay SF, but information applies generally, including preventing pollution, (eg stormwater), and wetlands restoration.
San Francisco Estuary Institute does monitoring including nutrients.
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is one of the preeminent environmental justice organizations in the nation, founded in 1978. They work on environmental justice mostly on refineries.
Government Agencies
Background overview NIH and EPA. agricultural nutrient pollution, Non-point urban
Division of Water Quality of the CA Water Boards has stormwater info and monitoring.
UCSC / Local People
Directory of UCSC water experts
Percolating ideas: Grad student Sarah Beganskas is studying what could become part of the solution to California’s water crisis: collecting storm runoff so it can seep into the ground instead of being diverted to rivers and seas. 4/16
Ruth Langridge, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, is to review the history, development, overall condition and current management practices for all of California’s court-adjudicated groundwater basins. 1/16.
Peter Cook et al. find Sea lions exposed to algal toxin show impaired spatial memory: Permanent neurological and behavioral changes caused by the neurotoxin domoic acid may affect sea lions' ability to survive in the wild 12/15.
Marc Los Huertos investigates nitrogen in river and ocean systems including the Pajaro River.
Brent Hughes, now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz, began studying water quality in Elkhorn Slough as a UCSC graduate student. His earlier research showed that virtually every portion of the estuary is adversely affected by high nutrient levels, which stimulate the growth of algae, leading to low oxygen levels when the algae die and decompose, aka Dead Zones. 6/15. see Ocean.
Sajin Sison-Mangus got a grant from the Dean's Fund for Undergraduate Research, to study to determine whether certain bacteria influence production of domoic acid during algal blooms, which affects sea otters. 6/15.
Raphael Kudela, professor of ocean sciences, participated in a study that links seabird deaths to soap-like foam produced by red-tide algae. His team is trying to predict when toxin-producing algae will strike again with computer models. 9/10 update. 11/11: UCSC leads $4 million NOAA project to monitor harmful algal blooms. NASA award 7.12. Congressional testimony 10/13.
Adina Paytan does research on how dust affects algae in oceans. Her recent work looks at ocean acidification which affects coral.
Colleen Reichmuth has worked with marine mammals since 1990, conducting research in the areas of comparative cognition, bioacoustics, and behavioral ecology. Male elephant seals use 'voice recognition' to identify rivals, study by graduate student Caroline Casey and research biologist Colleen Reichmuth finds (video) 8/15. Sea lions exposed to algal toxin show impaired spatial memory see Marine Mammals. 11/16 update: sea otter hunting.
Mary Silver researches algae blooms. 2008 emerita.
Jonathan Trent is working on a plan to grow new biofuel by farming micro-algae in floating offshore pods that eat wastewater from cities. He has done prototypes in Santa Cruz. Energy from floating algae pods Call it "fuel without fossils": (TEDtalk 9/12). TEDxSC talk (video). TEDxSan Jose.
Kerstin Wasson is adjunct professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and research coordinator for the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. In the 1920s, San Francisco oystermen harvested Olympia oysters from Elkhorn Slough by the bushel. Overharvesting, however, soon decimated the population of these tasty little oysters, the only native oyster on the Pacific coast. They are now rare in Elkhorn Slough and in danger of going locally extinct. Kerstin Wasson, research coordinator for the reserve and an adjunct associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz. UPDATE: According to a paper by Wasson and grad student Brent Hughes, excessive nutrient levels in Elkhorn Slough cause algal blooms and degrade the habitat for fish and wildlife in many parts of the slough. 10/11 4/18 update award : Wetlands Hero. Wetlands.
Jonathan Zehr, professor of ocean sciences and his team has found an unusual microorganism in the open ocean may force scientists to rethink their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems. This may have implication for global warming.
