China removes algae from Olympic sailing venue

China removes algae from Olympic sailing venue

ap.google.com

BEIJING (AP) — China has called in thousands of people to clean up an algal bloom at the sailing venue for this summer's Olympic Games, a state news agency said.

The blue-green algae blossomed around June 1 in the waters around Qingdao on the coast of Shandong province, and some 400 boats and 3,000 people have been mobilized to clean it up, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Telephones at the Qingdao Ocean and Fishing Bureau, which is overseeing the cleanup efforts, were not answered Thursday.

Chinese news photos showed the bright-green bloom along the shores of downtown Qingdao. Other images showed workers loading the algae onto boats as windsurfers sailed in the background. The photos also showed people wading in the water and scooping up armfuls of the plant-like organism and putting it into white sacks.

Blue-green algae blooms when nutrients, sometimes caused by excessive pollution, build up in water.

The country's three-decade economic boom has left its waterways and coastlines severely polluted by industrial and farm chemicals and domestic sewage.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
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johnibiii.wordpress.com

well hers is another story re the olympics, this time it is a crazy amount of algae, it has even stopped shipping in some parts as it is so thick.

here are some more links:

news.bbc.co.uk...
(with video)
news.bbc.co.uk...
johnibiii.wordpress.com...

ap.google.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 3-7-2008 by snoopyuk]

[edit on 3-7-2008 by snoopyuk]

Um ... is this stuff safe to swim in now that its "polluted" enough to grow this ... thing? Shouldn't we be second guessing sending even more Americans (or human beings in general) into harms way? Is this gonna be safe? Would anyone let us know if it wasn't or would they just hold the games and let the diseases fall where they may?

reply to post by SpookshowJon


It's China's evil plot to kill of the rest of the world with fungus!!!!!

I been thinking about the safety issue for awhile now as well. With all of the natural disasters that have been happening to them and now this?
Canceling or boycotting. Now that's a touchy subject, isn't it. I wonder what the Chinese would do if the U.S. leads a charge to post pone the games until safety inspector can go in and check thing out?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

good questions folks, it is the speed that worries me, it sems to grow faster than any other algae.

it has caused so many problems for boats and ships , plus it cant be good for other wildlife.
it is not just on this particular river either, it is like this on seven rivers in china, and they believe it is also going to start affecting the ocean soon,,.

scary

snoopyuk