NEWS RELEASES
All Mississippi Beaches Closed Due To Toxic Algae
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through NPR's website.
NPR and numerous news outlets report that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has ordered all beaches along the state’s Gulf coast closed to swimming due to a bloom of blue-green algae. People or pets that come in contact with the algae may experience vomiting, skin rashes, stomach cramps, nausea and diarrhea. The department also warns against eating fish or seafood caught in the region’s off-shore waters, due to toxins in the algae that can affect the liver and nervous system. Officials say the algae is thriving due to weeks of heavy rain that has put huge amounts of fresh water into the Gulf. The opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway by the Army Corps of Engineers to drain excess water from the Mississippi River for a record 100 days is also cited as a cause.
"When it's in bloom, it looks like green paint, very fluorescent green," Steve Bailey of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality told NPS member station Mississippi Public Broadcasting. “So we have a huge amount of fresh water in the Sound along with the shallow waters, plenty of sunlight. It was just perfect conditions for a huge bloom to occur.” Currently all 21 of Mississippi’s coastal beaches are closed to swimming, including Buccaneer State Park and Pascagoula Beach Park, although the parks themselves remain open. The beaches of the Gulf Islands National Seashore are so far unaffected. The algae is affecting the region from the Mississippi Sound to Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. With more rain expected in the near future, officials say there's no way to know when the bloom will subside.
For a current update on closures, visit the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality website.