NOAA Establishes New England Red Tide Site to Aid Public and News Media

May 19, 2008

The infamous Florida "red tide" occurs almost annually along portions of the
state's Gulf Coast, causing beach and shellfish closures and negatively
impacting Florida's tourism industry. Just one harmful algal bloom event can
impose millions of dollars in losses upon local coastal communities. Image
courtesy of P. Schmidt, Charlotte (FL) Sun.

Red tide along Florida's Gulf Coast.

NOAA has established a special Web site to help New Englanders and the media
understand the significant red tides that are predicted to form later this
spring. The site will update when New England red tides occur and change.

On April 24, scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using
forecast models developed with NOAA funding support, predicted "that excess
winter precipitation has set the stage for a harmful algal bloom similar to
the historic "red tide" of 2005." The 2005 bloom shut down shellfish beds
from the Bay of Fundy to Martha's Vineyard for several months and caused an
estimated $18 million in losses to the Massachusetts shellfish industry
alone.

"Harmful Algal Blooms are a steadily increasing threat to our coasts," notes
John H. Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator of the National Ocean Service. "Our goal as an agency is to ensure healthy and safe coasts. Through research and public outreach such as through this Web site, we hope to mitigate the impacts of
these events as we seek to better understand why they occur."

Called the NOAA New England Red Tide Information Center,
http://www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/redtide, the site will provide a capsule
summary of the current red tide situation and its potential harmful impacts
on humans and animals, and serve as a central repository of information.

Direct links are provided to news releases; changes to federal fishing
regulations that apply, links to closures of federal and state shellfish
waters, and state agency Web sites that provide localized information.

Additionally, the site will provide information about NOAA's scientific
response effort, seafood safety information, and tell where to report marine
mammal strandings or deaths.

The site provides scientific information from NOAA's major response partner,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and several other sources.