The beaches of Molfetta are full of living creatures. All kinds of sea plants and animals proliferate along our coast. Unfortunately, with the increased temperature of the sea in the past couple of years a toxic tropical seaweed has started growing. It's called "ostreopsis" and it grows in calm, hot sea water. It releases its toxins on windy days when the waves break the alghe on the rocks and causes all kinds of health problems, such as irritated eyes, blisters, colds, coughs, fevers and rashes. Global warming doesn't seem like such an abstract concept when you can't spend a relaxed day at the sea any more...
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I've never heard of that seaweed... It is frightening when you think there is much more to come with global warming...
At the portuguese Madeira archipelago the first dengue and malaria cases have been detected...
Greetings
It looks so green and innocent in this picture. Thanks for the example of how a changing climate affects our lifestyles.
Sorry, perhaps my photo is misleading...that's just regular old seaweed there, not toxic. Apparently the toxic stuff is red.
I've read that part of the problem is the bilge water released by ships coming in from distant seas. When the new, alien organism finds the local conditions suitable, it grows into the sort of problems you describe. There are signs at a big lake near me warning recreational boaters to release any water from their boats before they slip them into the lake, but it already has invasive water weeds, with no solution to get rid of them.
Yes, Uselaine, that's exactly how they say this seaweed got here, dragged along the bottom of some large commercial ship coming from far away.
I was going to say that our fishermen have to battle red algae every now and then (what we call "red tide"), and it looks like you've discovered them already. =(
You are of course quite right. I see this all the time on the island.
When will we learn? Humans just don't pay enough attention to the canaries in the coalmine. Great post.
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