EUGENE, Ore. — Researchers say toxic blue-green algae blooms can slip through dams and ride rivers all the way to the ocean.
The Register-Guard of Eugene reports that scientists at Oregon State University say they used genetic tracking tools to follow the algae blooms. They learned that blooms can travel 180 miles from an Oregon mountain reservoir to the ocean.
OSU researcher Timothy Otten says most people don’t think of algae blooms in running water. They typically occur in still water, like lakes and reservoirs.
The flowing algae cause problems in estuaries, where freshwater mussels filter the water and accumulate the toxins. Many mammals, including humans, eat the mussels.
Sea otters in California’s Morro Bay subsist on mussels. Researchers there noticed that they began dying of a freshwater toxin two years ago.
