Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 31 July 2017

Researchers creating warning system for toxic algae in lakes

By JOHN SEEWER What satellites can’t mea-
Associated Press sure is the amount of toxins
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Satel- in the water. That’s where
lites in space and a robot samples gathered by re-
under Lake Erie’s surface searchers come into play.
are part of a network of sci- That too can be expensive
entific tools trying to keep so researchers have devel-
algae toxins out of drinking oped an underwater lab
water supplies in the shal- that sits at the bottom of
lowest of the Great Lakes. Lake Erie and both collects
It’s one of the most wide- water and tests the levels
ranging freshwater moni- of toxins before sending
toring systems in the U.S., the results back remotely.
researchers say, and some The whole process takes
of its pieces soon will be four hours — much less
watching for harmful al- than the day or two it takes
gae on hundreds of lakes to test samples from a
nationwide. boat.
Researchers are creating “We call it the ‘lab in a
an early warning system us- can,’” said Tim Davis, a
ing real-time data from sat- Great Lakes researcher
ellites that in recent years with the National Oceano-
have tracked algae bloom graphic and Atmospheric
hotpots such as Florida’s Administration.
Lake Okeechobee and The first robotic lab was
the East Coast’s Chesa- This Sept. 1, 2015, file photo shows a warning sign for algal toxins on a beach in Maumee Bay launched this summer
peake Bay. State Park, located on Lake Erie in Oregon, Ohio. and two more are in the
The plan is to have it in Associated Press works. While it’s still in the
place within two years so early stages, Davis said it
that states in the continen- could work in other lakes
tal U.S. can be alerted to plagued by algae.
where toxic algae is ap- sicken people and pets the drinking water for more “That’s exactly what we Other researchers are test-
pearing before they might and harm wildlife. than 400,000 people three we’re trying to accom- ing drones on Lake Erie to
detect it on the surface, But often the first reports years ago. plish,” Schaeffer said. see if digital images they
said Blake Schaeffer, a re- of harmful algae on a lake The EPA in recent years The system in development capture can be effec-
searcher with U.S. Environ- come from boaters seeing has been testing using the will cast a wider net at a tive monitoring the algae
mental Protection Agency. something strange in the satellite data to watch for time when many states blooms.
“You don’t have to wait water, said Rick Stumpf, algae in lakes in California, can’t afford to monitor Already in use on the lake
until someone gets sick,” of the National Oceano- Vermont, New Hampshire, every lake threatened by are buoys that measure al-
said Schaeffer, one of the graphic and Atmospheric Massachusetts, Connecti- harmful algae. gae in the water.
leaders of the project. Administration. cut and Rhode Island. The goal is to use the satel- Those leading all of these
Across the nation, farm He began using satellites Earlier this year, the data lite data to watch for algae research efforts say the
runoff, sewage overflows in 2008 to monitor algae helped detect an algae on 1,800 lakes across the key is provide as much in-
and lawn fertilizers have on Lake Erie. That work bloom in a Utah Lake near nation and provide four dif- formation as possible. “It’s
washed into lakes and riv- took on a new urgency af- Salt Lake City before offi- ferent types of water qual- really about using a com-
ers and left behind unsight- ter a bloom near Toledo’s cials on the ground knew ity measurements on close bination of all of these,”
ly algae blooms that can shoreline contaminated about it. to 170,000 lakes. Schaeffer said.q