About the green stuff in Puget Sound

(Photographed Tuesday)

Several people have asked about the green streaks/patches visible in Puget Sound this week. We’ve reported before on the red patches – and the short answer is that the green stuff is a lot like the red stuff: Algae blooms. Not the same exact type – the red algae (noctiluca) seems to be unique in that coloration – but as the state Ecology Department notes, algae blooms come in many colors. What they have in common: They’re a sign something is awry – the water is too full of “nutrients,” a catch-all term for many things – including, according to Ecology:

Human sources of nutrients include (among others):

Treated sewage
Over-application of fertilizers that get into stormwater runoff
onsite sewage systems (OSS)
Poorly managed land use practices

Natural sources, too, “but analyses indicate that human nutrient sources are making things worse,” says the state. Good for algae – bad for animals and plants that need oxygen-rich water. The state does an aerial survey that leads to a report titled Eyes on Puget Sound – the mid-July edition is here.

11 Replies to "About the green stuff in Puget Sound"

  • NW August 1, 2018 (8:15 pm)

    With population grown in the region treated sewage follows so you can see the new ffects here in the summer months when conditions are right for blooms, thanks West Seattle Blog for the information. 

  • JanS August 1, 2018 (10:44 pm)

    doesn’t the heat we’ve had lately contribute to blooms?

    • herongrrrl August 2, 2018 (4:18 pm)

      It’s more about length of daylight hours than heat, from what I understand.

  • Talis Abolins August 1, 2018 (11:05 pm)

    I suspect that the extended failure of the City’s wastewater treatment facility didn’t help things either.

    • Swede. August 2, 2018 (8:02 am)

      That’s what I thought to. Millions of gallons of ‘nutrients’ leaked out for months, combined with warm weather makes for good growing conditions. 

      • WSB August 2, 2018 (8:22 am)

        We’ve had these for years. Long before the West Point problem, which of course didn’t help, but it’s the cumulative effects of the “little things” too. What you put on your yard, in your laundry, more.

  • Waynesk August 2, 2018 (12:34 am)

    South Dakota lales just full of of that blue green algae with miles of stinky beaches from it. I use to swim in the stuff every day all summer long.I

  • Louisa J Eastman August 2, 2018 (3:30 pm)

    Seaweed has “seasons” just like trees losing their leaves in the fall.  It’s not unusual for seaweed to pile up on beaches in the summer for a couple of weeks.  Are you sure that this is not a seasonal normal ocurrance?

    • WSB August 2, 2018 (3:34 pm)

      Algae blooms and seaweed are different. And this isn’t “piling up on beaches” – it’s adrift out in the water.

    • herongrrrl August 2, 2018 (4:19 pm)

      Pretty sure these are not normal seasonal occurrances—or rather, they may be NOW, but they weren’t 30 years ago.

  • herongrrrl August 2, 2018 (4:21 pm)

    Another big contributor to “nutrient loading,” as it is euphemistically described, is pet waste, from both dogs and cats. 

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