Fishermen are claiming to have seen the sea around Lumut and parts of Pangkor Island turning red since last week. Kampung Sungai Pinang Besar Committee chairman Roslan Ahmad, 43, said fishermen had reportedly seen the waters near the shores ‘as red as liver’. "The fishermen are all puzzled. This has never happened before," he said yesterday. The mysterious occurrence, he added, had also affected their catch. Another fisherman, Abdul Wahab Abd Majid, believed that the pheno-menon could be due to erosion or undersea earth movement. "Who knows, it could just be an act of God," he said. The 52-year-old man said fisher-men had also reported less catch and almost no anchovies (ikan bilis) in the past five to six days. Pangkor assemblyman Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the state Fisheries Department was conducting tests to determine whether the reddish water was in fact red tide. "Red tide is caused by a kind of al-gae, which in large quantities may cause problems for fish because they don’t get enough oxygen." "We need to determine if it really is red tide," he said. ) The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) estimates about 1,000 fish have died in the past week. A former spokesman for the Lake Modewarre foreshore committee, Brian Gane, says a similar fish kill also happened early last year. Mr Gane says photographs of the lake before the fish kills last year and this year show the lake going very clear and foaming. He believes the water change and corresponding fish deaths are caused by a toxic algae. "On both occasions you'll see [in] the 2006 photograph the lake looks pristine, almost crystal clear ... and more startling on the 2007 photograph when the lake is significantly lower and should be even more turbid, where the event is taking place you can clearly see patches of the bottom. This is extraordinarily uncharacteristic," he said. But the EPA's John Williamson says the water in the Lake Colac and several others waterways in western Victoria have all been closely monitored and tested for the algae. Mr Williamson says there is not evidence of the algae and this week's deaths have been caused by fish spawning in water levels that are too low. He says he cannot explain what the foam is. "It's hard to tell what that foam is. There may in fact be a link between the foaming of the lakes and fish deaths, but this particular one we don't believe that's the case," he said. "But we certainly haven't tested foam previously, but what we have tested for [is] the presence [of] algae - particularly golden algae - and once again we haven't been able to detect the presence of toxic algae."tt) Warm water and sufficient light have already triggered non-toxic algae growth off Helsinki in the Gulf of Finland, the Finnish Institute of Marine Research said in a statement Wednesday. Algae blooms have also been detected in the Gulf of Mecklenburg in Germany. However, there are still no signs of algae in the central areas of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. Once the spring's non-toxic algae bloom starts, the seawater near the Helsinki region often turns a brown colour. Toxic blue-green algae blooms are not expected before mid-July.) The toxic alga invading the lower reaches of the Ashley River has been found in the Selwyn River. A sample taken from the river at Chamberlains Ford has confirmed the black, musty-smelling alga is in the river, but it is not as toxic as the bloom in the lower reaches of the Ashley that is believed to have killed at least one dog and made others ill. Warnings remain in place for Ashley River users not to swim in the river or exercise their dogs there because increased levels of the algal bloom can cause allergic reactions in people and kill dogs. Environment Canterbury (ECan) water-quality scientist Shirley Hayward said the warnings would remain in place until there was a flood in the Ashley to scour the algal mats from the gravel and wash it off the riverbanks. If the weather warmed and flows declined further, problems could develop further upstream, where some algal bloom had been found, but at much lower concentrations than closer to the rivermouth. Samples from three Waimakariri River sites were clear of toxins and a visual inspection of the Waipara River showed no black algal mats, although there were other algae, which was common at this time of year. ) 1. A red tide warning has been issued for the Cape West coast and False Bay. Grant Pitcher, the marine and coastal management principal specialist scientist, says a long stretch of the coasts has been affected. The alarm was raised following reports that at least three people fell ill with paralytic shellfish poisoning after eating seafood from the coast at Lamberts Bay. Marine and coastal management has warned the public not to eat any shellfish collected from the coast. Marine scientists are investigating and samples tested have found that a toxic red tide is widespread all along the coast to as far north as Lamberts Bay. Pitcher says: "There is another problem that is on the West Coast - up in the St Helena Bay region near Lamberts Bay where there are blooms that are visually less impressive but they have some toxic organism in them and these are causing shellfish to become toxic and now we have some reports - three separate incidences of people becoming ill having consumed shellfish in that area. Meanwhile, non- toxic red tide blooms persist along the False Bay Coast. Scientists have warned that if the blooms start to decay, it could cause a rapid decline in oxygen in the water. And that could lead to high scale mortalities of flora and fauna.2. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has warned the public not to eat any shellfish or lobster liver found on the West Coast, following reports of three people becoming ill after eating shellfish collected in Western Cape. The problem may be a result of a toxic red tide, said the department in a statement on Friday. It is investigating and samples are being tested, it said. "Animals, such as lobsters, that feed on toxic shellfish can accumulate the toxins in their digestive gland with no apparent effect, but will accumulate toxins in their liver. Members of the public are therefore advised not to eat lobster liver too." The reported incidents appeared to display symptoms of paralytic shellfish poisoning. Typical symptoms include tingling and numbness of the mouth, lips and fingers, which usually occur within the first 30 minutes after the ingestion of toxic shellfish. Advanced symptoms include dizziness, incoherent speech, uncoordinated limbs with slight difficulty in breathing, and a rapid pulse. In severe cases it may cause paralysis. Meanwhile, a non-toxic red tide persisted along False Bay, the department said.)
Revelation 8:8,9
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