Algae Kills Hundreds Of California Sea Animals

quote: Originally posted by Realtruth
People don't think about the products they used or products used in their name. I'm talking about gallons of body and hair care, gallons of laundry soap, hundreds of pounds of fertilizer and pesticides to product their foods, paints, gas, oil, plastics, processing clothes with dyes and clean water, anything industrial and clean water to process all the food. Not to mention all the sewerage each person produces.

Originally posted by deaman88
I can see that the algae may be a natural cause, but what could be damaging irreperably is the industrial scale pollution that is being created by the manufacturers - not the consumers.

It is not the consumer's fault they are being given products which have been produced at cost to the environment. If there were only green hybrid cars then what do you think we would be buying?

The consumer is already having to pay the cost anyhows, with green taxes, carbon footprint taxes, and even penalties for taking your recycling out early (UK), not to mention being blamed for an event which might be entirely natural.

Is it not possible that the algae, much like a flu virus, can mutate over time, or become a superalgae?

Originally posted by phoenixhasrisin
I am sorry, but to anyone who actually lives in California, this is nothing more than old news.

Sure it might be blamed on some algae now, and later there will be another perfectly logical explanation.

The one thing that doesn't change though is the fact that we have had large numbers of wildlife washing up on our beaches for decades now.

For instance, I am in Long Beach, just south of San Pedro. Does anyone else know that we have a wave-break? Does anyone even know what that is?
We have something in common! I was a 3rd generation H.B. LOC. born at Hoag Memorial (no hosp. in HB in 1960). The first real site I saw was when on the way home on PCH my Mom held me up and had me look at the ocean. I have always felt I have salt in my veins from the endless summers (and much of the winter)spent on the beach and in the water. I left several years ago not only to further my spiritual quest but because of a cataclysmic dream where the entire O.C. was wiped out in an instant. I am so sorry to hear about all of the aquatic life suffering so greatly. One more thing, what is a wave break? I probably know but somehow dont remember. Also the sewer has been escaping into the ocean since I was a kid there. I thought they had that fixed to the tune of billions back in the late 70's? Do you remember the Winchells doughnut truck on saturday mornings? Fireworks and parades, hotdogs cooked on the beach? Strips? The Golden Bear?Gordies surf shop? Antique Schwinns and skateboarding everywhere? I am proud of comming from there of course it no longer even remotely resembles the same place.
Does anyone know about the sewage that has been dumped into Huntington ( the city of my birth) for well over a decade now?

Dead birds, oh no! Hell, that is par for the course if strolling along st the western shore.


[edit on 27-4-2007 by phoenixhasrisin]

Shoot I posted that wrong, my post to you is in the middle of your post...Ohh Nooo!

First of all my deepest sympathies go to "antar".
You have friends here

If I was to say one thing to everybody, how would you react?

soylent green

There are some interesting topics that are making me steer towards a giant conspiracy, and that is why we're here folks

New forms of deadly algae.

Some devistating (supposedly) recent natural disasters.

Honeybees dying all over the world. very important.

Chemical spraying of the atmosphere believed to cause illness.

Genetically modified food on the increase.

The only thing that will be left to eat will be ourselves

What better way to control population numbers, self regulating in a way.

Something for a new thread I think.

Here's a little background on algae:

Nitrogen is the limiting nutrient in the growth of algae, and fertilizers have high concentrations of both nitrate(NO3) and ammonium(NH4). Algae are able to grow and multiply more rapidly under high nitrogen conditions, resulting in a bloom.

Pseudo-nitzschia is a genus of diatoms (a type of algae) that release the toxin domoic acid. This toxin isn't normally harmful to animals, but when blooms of this type of algae form, the concentration is much higher.

Animals are poisoned when they eat shellfish that are present in a Pseudo-nitzschia bloom. This is because shellfish are filter feeders, and a large amount of water passes through their systems. The toxin accumulates in the shellfish and results in a high concentration. Animals then eat the shellfish with a high concentration of domoic acid, resulting in poisoning. This is why it isn't harmful for a human to ingest small amounts of water, but it is harmful for humans to eat shellfish that have high amounts of domoic acid.

[edit on 28-4-2007 by KB709975]

Originally posted by nerbot
New forms of deadly algae.

Researchers find unknown species of algae every day — not "new" species, just undiscovered ones. Algae is one of the oldest lifeforms on this planet and is highly diversified — but these so-called red tides, which have been around forever, are caused by known species.

Originally posted by nerbot
Some devistating (supposedly) recent natural disasters.

Only if devastation is measured in terms of how perfectly natural events affect humanity. I don't call an earthquake or a tsunami or a volcanic eruption or a hurricane natural disasters, for instance. These are perfectly natural events on this planet. It's more a matter of human stupidity for choosing to settle large segments of the population in known danger areas. I see people sobbing and gnashing their teeth about the poor, poor victims of some "natural disaster," and I just think Hey, you KNEW it was a snake when you picked it up. (if anyone needs an explanation of that East Texas colloquialism, just ask.)

In any event, these disasters aren't on the increase — probably the same old Earth cycles as always, but we just have better communications today than at any time in history. We're just hearing about these events more often; whereas, in the 19th Century, for example, catastrophes exactly like what we experience today weren't instantly monitored and reported, so it only seemed that these occurrences were infrequent.

Originally posted by nerbot
Honeybees dying all over the world. very important.

Hold on, you're changing the facts here — what is so baffling about the bee situation is that we're not finding any dead bees. We don't know that they're dying off, we're only puzzled by their disappearance. Rather than an indicator of the bee population in decline, it may be an indicator of an insectoid predator species on the rise.

Originally posted by nerbot
Genetically modified food on the increase.

But that's not really working out, as we see nations worldwide nervously holding GM foods at arm's length and applying stricter and stricter regulations on GM production and distribution. GM food is not a very good idea, anyway — it's just another of those half-baked scientific what if we could do its that always comes back to bite Science in the ass, just like the Chinese tampering with the weather.

And I still think Soylent Green is one of the best sci-fi doomsday movies of all time — outstanding performances by Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson.

— Doc Velocity

[edit on 4/28/2007 by Doc Velocity]

Fair points "doc" and noted.

thanx for clarity.

I suppose I was being a bit quick off the mark...will engage neutral b4 shifting in future....sorry everyone(humble, humble)

Deadly algae is new to me and I guess the so called natural disasters I was refering to were from a human point of view that have a direct effect on "US". Selfish really, but sad that innocent people can get so affected in these natural events.

And the bees must be dying and not just dissappearing because they do not simply relocate elsewhere without taking their honey with them which would normally happen. There are other signs of something very serious going on (other bees and animals will not touch the honey from abandoned hives). On this matter, I am currently awaiting info from bee experts in UK to expand the knowledge base on the threads here on ATS.

Yes, a snake can bite if picked up. We must accept that risk, but so can an electrical cable unless we make sure it is disconnected and/or not switched on, therefore eliminating risk.

It is the man-made risks we can avoid, yes?

Originally posted by nerbot
Yes, a snake can bite if picked up. We must accept that risk...

Well, my point is that, in the interest of survival, we shouldn't take risks with Nature when we already know the outcome with a high degree of probability.

That's the essence of my old East Texas snake story: A guy finds a rattlesnake dying on the trail. He takes the snake home with him, consults the appropriate reference material and nurses the snake back to health over a period of weeks. During this time the guy feels that he is developing a kinship with the snake, and he believes that the snake is coming to trust him. After several weeks, this guy even feels entirely comfortable and confident in handling the snake, almost like a pet. Until one day, of course, when the rattlesnake suddenly bites him in the neck. As blackness closes in on him, the guy feels angry and horribly betrayed by the ungrateful reptile — meanwhile, the snake goes innocently slithering out the door and returns to the wild.

The moral of the story: You KNEW it was a rattlesnake when you picked it up, dumbass.

Just so, as I travel around the country, I encounter people who invest lots of money and time and effort to make their homes and communities in areas well known for catastrophic hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires — they may do so cautiously at first; but over time, in the absence of catastrophe, they develop a sense of kinship with the land, a sense of immunity and impunity. Until one day, of course, when Nature rises up and does its thing, and then these same people are cursing God and blaming everyone else for the calamity that has befallen them. They KNEW they were placing themselves in danger from Day One, but they don't want to take responsibility for their own stupidity.

Originally posted by nerbot
It is the man-made risks we can avoid, yes?

Certainly, and overpopulating known danger areas is a definite man-made risk. Unfortunately, humans being what we are, we don't attempt to mitigate our risk until after the fact, and by that time we've already lost 200,000 lives and a trillion dollars in property.

As this all relates to my earlier statement about the frequency of natural disasters, I don't see Nature doing anything out of the ordinary — it's just the same 4-billion-year-old planetary cycles: hot then cold, wet then dry, shaken then stirred, inhabitable then uninhabitable, et cetera. Welcome to planet Earth.

The difference is that our species has exploded in population over the last 200 years, and, in our mindless scramble for fresh real estate, we've moved into deadly dangerous areas and circumstances with greater and greater frequency. So, while it may seem that "natural disasters" are increasing, the truth of the matter is that we are placing ourselves in harm's way with greater frequency.

Can this situation be remedied? Sure. Some of the most successful species on Earth already know the secret of long-term survival on this tumultuous planet — and I'm not talking about cockroaches or other mass-reproducing insects, I'm talking about large animals. The Crocodilians, for example, are large and very successful predators dating back to before the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Crocs survived mass extinction 65 million years ago and have survived to the present day by doing two things:

1.) They regulate their reproduction cycles in such a way that their population periodically decreases nearly to the brink of extinction, allowing the natural resources to replenish, and then they undergo a population explosion. And...

2.) They stay in one place where they know they are safe, and they don't go migrating all over the planet, putting themselves in danger.

We humans could learn a lot about long-term survival from the Crocodilians, if we were willing to collectively stop reproducing for 10 to 20 years at a stretch, allowing our population to diminish by a few billion persons as the Earth replenishes itself; and if we would just make a conscious decision to live in safe places, rather than concentrating our masses in coastal areas prone to tsunami and hurricanes, or on seismic faults, or in the path of seasonal floods, or next door to active volcanos.

— Doc Velocity

2004/2005 (as I recall) saw one of the worst red tide blooms in memory here on the west cost of Florida. It lasted almost an entire year, and caused a massive loss of marine life. We have a large estuary system here (I live near Tampa Bay) and many species of recreational fish were hit hard. Vast areas of grass flats were rendered void of sea life. No real explanation was discovered, but the suspicion was large amount of nitrogen from phosphate mining and excessive rainfall was to blame.

I visited my brother in law in San Diego. I was amazed to read about the surfers near Point Loma suffering from skin rashes due to swimming near a sewage dump pipe. Don't they have sewage treatment plants in Cali? You can't smoke in a bar, but they can dump sewage into the ocean? Amazing. The ocean is not our toilet. I would think there would be a massive push to put an end to that sort of abuse.