GLIN==> Harmful Algal Blooms

[Rochelle Sturtevant <rochelle.sturtevant@noaa.gov>]

GLIN-folks!

I wanted to let you know about some new information services and 
products relating to harmful algal blooms (HABs).

The NOAA Center of Excellence for Great Lakes and Human Health (CEGLHH) 
has just launched the first draft of a "Harmful Algal Bloom Event 
Response" website 
(http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLWL/Algae/HAB/EventResponse/EventResponseDraft.html).  
We'll apologize in advance for the somewhat rough appeance of the site - 
the recent hot weather has caused some blooms to start developing a 
month ahead of our anticipated web-development timetable.  The primary 
purpose of the website is to quickly make publicly available any  
harmful algal bloom data discovered in the course of CEGLHH or GLERL 
research that has potential human health consequences.  We've also 
provided links to a variety of resources (news reports, FAQ sheets, 
public health contacts, research profiles, etc) and will be adding more 
as the summer progresses.  Please bookmark the main GLERL webpage 
(http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/) for a link to this site as the above URL is 
subject to change. 

The first data report on the website...
Bear Lake, Muskegon County (Lat/Lon 43.15.15/86.17.11) along the SE 
shoreline near dock in 1 foot water was sampled on May 26th, 2005. The 
location had visible evidence of slight surface scum.  The bloom was 
dominated by Microcystis aeruginosa and  Microcystis smithii.  
Microcystin concentrations in the samples  were 6-12 micrograms per 
liter.  This level exceeds the World Health Organization standard for 
microcystin concentrations in drinking water (1microgram per liter) but 
not the WHO recreational contact advisory (20 micrograms per liter). 

We have also launched a new public listserv through GLIN for HAB-related 
announcements and discussions - HABCOMM.  We will be posting text 
versions of our data announcements (as above) to this list, if you 
prefer this type of info in your in-box.  Over time, we hope to 
encourage other Great Lakes HAB researchers to follow suit.  We also 
welcome announcements of HAB-related events, news, etc.  For more 
information and to directions on how to subscribe, go to 
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLWL/Algae/HAB/EventResponse/HABCOMM.html

For the amateur microscopists out there, I am also launching an early 
draft of the Algae section of the Great Lakes Waterlife Photo Gallery 
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLWL/Algae/Algae1.html.  Segments on 
"Dominant Planktonic Algae", "Blue-Green Algae" and "Macroscopic Algae" 
are complete -- other segments are still 'under construction'.  The 
gallery includes links to a host of web-based information, genus-level 
profiles, and field-guide style amateur keys, in addition to photos. 

For more information contact:

Kanika Suri
CEGLHH
<kanika.suri@noaa.gov>

or

Rochelle Sturtevant
Great Lakes Sea Grant Network at GLERL
<rochelle.sturtevant@noaa.gov>




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