Winnipesaukee Forum - Checked About 4-PM--Another Cyanobacteria Has Emerged...

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Checked About 4-PM--Another Cyanobacteria Has Emerged...

Too full of cross-wakes to look to the depths for the quantity of fresh water mussels (that are usually filtering our near waters), but doubt I could have seen the mussels anyway. :rolleye2:

The top few feet was clouded by the thickest density of Gloeotrichia I've ever seen in this lake--and this is August! :eek2: (That's a different form of toxic blue-green algae that appears in September).

The late NHDES limnologist, Jody Connor, expounded here:

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...69&postcount=5

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApS (Post 395526)

YUCK,,,

Is it time to bring back 2-cycle premix outboards and kill this stuff off?

Never saw anything like this as a kid,,,

Love the smell of "white gas" and 40:1 premix in the morning, it smells like FUN!

Looks Like Sawdust--Even the Color...

Only in my neighborhood of Winter Harbor, but any boater will likely see the bloom by looking over the side late in a sunny day.

At 4PM, the bright sun's angle will likely make it obvious.

:look:

Tubing in the dark? Are you nuts???

Attachment 18599 Attachment 18600

Curious if this is what is being discussed? See two examples, one picture in the lake and another picture after scooping into a cup

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IDK…that looks like milfoil…

Stingray I see those cloudy greenish blobs around our dock every summer. No idea what that is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApS (Post 395526)

Is there a bloom or is this a false alarm?

Thanks

Checked Again, At 4:00-PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by secondcurve (Post 395571)

Is there a bloom or is this a false alarm?

Thanks

I checked again today. The water was so roiled by huge wakes pulling soil from the shoreline, I could only see into about one foot of depth, but the Gloeotrichia was still present.

The article mentions that Gloeotrichia is a seasonal occurrence, but I've associated the bloom with September, and we're not through half of August.

Neurotoxins associated with these blue-green algae can gradually affect humans' nervous system later in life.

Although my personal affliction of peripheral-neuropathy is a mild one, some suffer gravely.

Quote:

. I see it as "A Perfect Storm".

1) Last season's heavy rains have washed countless (and distant) green lawns' fertilizers into the greater Winnipesaukee Basin.

2) Recent Lake Kanasatka's obvious blooms "seeded" the Big Lake last season.

(Apply "Occam's Razor" to their problem nearby).

3) No recent breezes to dilute blooms, so hot surface waters are quietly "cooking the broth".

4) The lake's level has been kept artificially high, causing waves (but especially wakes) to reach deeper into the sub-soils which have sequestered tons of phosphorus and nitrogen.

5) Pine-tree pollen, which slows the normal mixing and dilution of Spring's lakefront waters is occurring presently--warming surface waters.

6) A hot seasonal weather pattern which encourages biological growth is upon us and likely to put a synergistic action into this mess.

7) This is not to mention the sandbar problem.

On this rainy day, I reorganized the file cabinet. In my "Environment" file, I stumbled across a Swiss study that found prescription statins in their ground water. Switzerland doesn't manufacture statins, and the study is 20 years old!

8) In former years, snow on thick ice cover kept our waters from "solar gain".

This past winter scarcely rated an "Ice-In".

9) Phosphorus is one of many chemicals that are used in fireworks' aerial displays.

https://www.thoughtco.com/elements-in-fireworks-607342

I'd shelve that concern for now, as a huge number of northern-tier lakes can be affected by this byproduct.

Injuries are bad enough, so restrictions on excessive recreational fireworks need to be studied.

.

ETA:
With this Memorial Day Weekend's very high waters and huge wakes, I noticed I couldn't see my feet even ten feet from shore! These abusive wakes were seriously eroding the banks of Lake Winnipesaukee...!

Isn’t this the stuff people were calling “rock snot” a year or so ago?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by stingray (Post 395561)

That looks like late season algae bloom to me. Have seen that for years especially after a particularly warm June/July.

Here's a link to a site that has examples with photos of toxic and non toxic algae.
https://mywaterquality.ca.gov/habs/w...alguide_fs.pdf

Not Building Mussels...

Quote:

Originally Posted by XCR-700 (Post 395527)

YUCK,,,Is it time to bring back 2-cycle premix outboards and kill this stuff off? Never saw anything like this as a kid,,,

Love the smell of "white gas" and 40:1 premix in the morning, it smells like FUN!

While I agree--you must be a youngster. ;)

Back in my day, the mix was a half-pint to a gallon! (16:1)

OK, back to the "sawdust" algae.

In yesterday's calm, in addition to the seasonal "sawdust" Gloeotrichia, I was able to check on "my" fresh water mussels.

There were none to be seen! :eek:

Where there should have been scores of mussels and their trails, there was only a huge field of an apparently new-to-me rooted algae.

(Thanks for the link cowislander).

As to stingray's filamentous algae, that came to "my" part of Lake Winnipesaukee about 1994. A friend from the opposite shore visited yesterday and agreed that back then, it was so thick that it had clogged our respective water intakes. :eek2: It also appeared (then as now) as small green "tumbleweed" clusters on the bottom. (No bigger than a volleyball).

A darker-green filamentous variety appeared about the same time in a seasonal "brooklet" next to our dock. (As a reminder, the early 1990's was the Age of the McMansion).

:look: