Death of Sea Life Off Russia Peninsula 'Caused by Algae' (yahoo.com) 24
Blooming algae was behind a recent mass death of sea animals that saw octopuses and seals wash up on the shore off a Russian peninsula, scientists said on Friday in the final conclusion to their probe. From a report: Locals in Kamchatka, a volcanic peninsula in Russia's Far East, raised the alarm in September after the animals were found dead and surfers complained of stinging eyes. Scientists later said that up to 95 percent of marine life living along the seabed in the affected area had died. Environmental campaigners said they were conducting their own inquiries and were not yet able to confirm the official probe's findings. Andrei Adrianov, vice president of Russia's Academy of Sciences, announced the probe's conclusions on Friday, saying the mass death was due to the effects of toxins from single-cell algae. Speaking at the same meeting, Svetlana Radionova of environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor said her agency conducted over 5,000 tests. She said the agency did not see a way the situation could have been caused by humans. In a separate criminal probe, investigators announced they had eliminated oil spills and toxic waste as possible causes. They added that the previously reported high levels of phenol and petroleum products were "not critical" and had been observed in the bay for decades.
Nice cause you stopped tracing back at. (Score:3)
What ever could possbly cause a large unusual algae bloom in arctic seas? :-P
Hmm...
Re: Nice cause you stopped tracing back at. (Score:3)
Pipelines, in the Arctic? Not 100% on geography involved, but I bet there's a more direct path from the Russian oil fields to Germany than thru the Arctic.
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What ever could possbly cause a large unusual algae bloom in arctic seas? Hmm... :-P
The chemical weapons testing grounds up the river going into that bay. Officially, it is a "pesticide testing site". Unofficially... Any pesticide is potentially also a chemical weapon. This was one of the cold climate sites (the hot climate ones were in Uzbekistan).
Additionally, there is some (unknown) toxic chemical burial at that location.
It is a classic case. It is FUCKING KNOWN THAT THEY ARE BULSHITTING. Nothing said by our cretins.
When, however, they are telling the truth (which also happens, bu
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You need a new map. Kamchatka is in the North Pacific, not the arctic. The ocean current flows north on that side of the ocean, so the offshore water is from China or Japan, as in Fukushima.
Take your pick.
Fertilisers? (Score:2, Insightful)
How about farmers using fertiliser that gets washed into the sea?
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Fertilizer [or any reason that] causes algae blooms, which suck up the oxygen in the water which kills sea life. I assumed they already ruled this out because it is so common.
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Re: Fertilisers? (Score:3, Informative)
How about farmers using fertiliser that gets washed into the sea?
Not likely, don't think farming is a big activity in the Arctic region under discussion.
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My thick thumbs downvoted you instead of up. Have to comment now to undo the mistake :(
No worries (Score:2)
The rusted and leaking nuclear subs have absolutely nothing to do with it.
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Meanwhile, Russia missing Submarine (Score:1)
These kinds of algal blooms can be natural events. (Score:4, Informative)
However they can be caused by/amplified by/made more frequent by pollution -- specifically nitrogen and phosphorous, which can be found in untreated or only moderately treated sewage discharge as well as runoff from agricultural fields. Kamchatka is a sparsely populated region with a severe climate and limited agriculture, though.
The linked article is a little vague on specific geographic location and extent of the algal bloom, but National Geographic [nationalgeographic.com] has a more informative article. It mentions sites along the east coast of the peninsula, near the nutrient-rich Kamchatka Current [wikipedia.org], and that algal blooms (although not of this size) are common in the area. Higher-than-normal levels of pollutants that contribute to algal blooms have been found in water samples, but scientific opinion is that these measurements don't seem sufficient to explain the magnitude of this event.
So this was probably a natural event, but it may have amplified by human actions, particularly if we count the record high temperatures late this summer around the Bering Strait, where the Kamchatka Current originates. That's speculation though. We'll have to wait for the scientists who study these things to hash things out.
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If amplified by humans then the source of additional nutrients would most likely be Japan.
I think the real surprising news here is that there are **SURFERS** in Kamchatka!
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Possibly, but if that were the case you'd be seeing problems on the west coast of Kamchatka, but not the east. There is a strong prevailing current along the east coast that flows down from the Bering Sea to meet the North Pacific Gyre off the east coast of Japan.
There is a weaker current that flows from Korea up through the Sea of Japan, and a minor branch of that flows around the north end of Hokkaido and empties into the Sea of Ohotsk.
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That's what shocked me, I'm expecting a native Russian Indian being interviewed spicoli style...with frozen booger-cicles stuck out of both nostrils saying: "...its not just a sport, its a way of life, not just some hobby. hah. Its where you look at that big tasty wave and say...hey bud, lets party!"
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Algae blooms are caused by an excess of phosphates and nitrates. And the source(s) for the phosphates doesn't need to be the same source(s) for the nitrates.
While algae blooms can be seen from the air (even space), I'm not sure if remote sensing can be used for detecting these chemicals. That would leave ships taking samples.
The five most likely suspects (up-current of the bloom): Russia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and China.
Testing Data (in Russian) (Score:1)