Bring awareness
Microalgal toxins and their chronic effects need to be recognized as major threats to animal health, sustained fisheries, endangered species, and ecosystems.
Image: Dr. Jennifer L. Graham | US Geological Survey / eutrophication&hypoxia on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND).
Algae Blooms
Non-toxic species can cause impacts including loss of shellfish, loss of habitat, seagrass die-backs, hypoxia, and altered food web interactions.
Image: Pexels
Toxic cyanobacteria HABs
Toxic cyanobacteria HABs are a significant threat to the security of freshwaters. Guanitoxin, a naturally occurring and lethal cyanotoxin, can cause HABs in lakes and can affect people’s nervous system.
Image: Pexels
Non-toxic algae blooms
Even if algal blooms are not toxic, they can negatively impact aquatic life by blocking out sunlight and clogging fish gills.
Image: Pexels
More problems
Harmful algal blooms can also create “dead zones,” areas in water with little or no oxygen where aquatic life cannot survive
Image: Pexels
A Growing Problem
Increases in water temperature with climate change are expected to increase the magnitude and duration of cyanoHABs.
Image: Illinois EPA
Effect on tourism
Visitors are not able to enjoy the coastlines Florida is famous for.
Image: Ruben Earth
22M
dollars in damages per algae bloom event
45%
of reported algae cases are 18 years ago or earlier
102,071
sick animal cases because of harmful algae
8M
fish died in Norway from an algae outbreak
227
harmful algae outbreaks have been reported
13
states have experienced harmful algae blooms
1,170
animal deaths from algae sickness
$2.7B
lost by Florida in tourism due to the red tide bloom