SEATTLE — Federal biologists are studying an extensive toxic algae bloom that has prompted the closures of crab and other shellfish harvests in Washington, Oregon and California.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the bloom involves some of the highest concentrations of the natural toxic domoic acid ever observed in some parts of the coast.
The agency says it began earlier this year and has grown into the largest and most severe in a more than a decade, stretching from Central California into Washington and possibly Alaska.
In early June, high toxin levels prompted the closure of the Dungeness crab fishery off the southern coast of Washington and razor clamming in Oregon.
On Monday, a team of scientists set out from Oregon aboard a research vessel to survey the algae bloom.
