Bad algae bloom meets 'the blob'

Amelia Havanec

Amelia Havanec Jul 1, 2025

Jan 12, 2018

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                <h1>Bad algae bloom meets 'the blob'</h1>
                <h2><p>Surveyors aboard a NOAA research vessel say that a toxic algae bloom, which earlier this summer was seen stretching from California to Alaska, is much worse than originally thought, reports the Associated Press. Turns out, the bloom is bigger, denser and deeper — stretching 40 miles wide and reaching depths of</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/amelia-havanec-crosscut-com/">Amelia Havanec</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Surveyors aboard a NOAA research vessel say that a toxic algae bloom, which earlier this summer was seen stretching from California to Alaska, is much worse than originally thought, reports the <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TOXIC_ALGAE_BLOOM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Associated Press</a>. Turns out, the bloom is bigger, denser and deeper — stretching 40 miles wide and reaching depths of 650 feet.  Yesterday, marine managers doubled the area closed off to Dungeness crab gathering — now totaling more than half of Washington's 157-mile-long coast — as a result of the algae bloom's neurotoxins, which are absorbed by shellfish. Algae blooms are an annual occurrence, but researchers say this one is lasting longer and with more toxins. It's thought that a large ribbon of warm water running through the northeast Pacific Ocean is at the root of this bad bloom. Yes, the warm water mass is what the scientists have taken to calling "the blob."</p>
          </article>

Surveyors aboard a NOAA research vessel say that a toxic algae bloom, which earlier this summer was seen stretching from California to Alaska, is much worse than originally thought, reports the Associated Press. Turns out, the bloom is bigger, denser and deeper — stretching 40 miles wide and reaching depths of 650 feet. Yesterday, marine managers doubled the area closed off to Dungeness crab gathering — now totaling more than half of Washington's 157-mile-long coast — as a result of the algae bloom's neurotoxins, which are absorbed by shellfish. Algae blooms are an annual occurrence, but researchers say this one is lasting longer and with more toxins. It's thought that a large ribbon of warm water running through the northeast Pacific Ocean is at the root of this bad bloom. Yes, the warm water mass is what the scientists have taken to calling "the blob."

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By Amelia Havanec

Amelia Havanec is Crosscut's Science and Tech Fellow. She came to Washington from her home state of Connecticut by way of New York, Florida, California and Michigan in pursuit of the perfect pint. Sh