Bloom of toxic algae stretching from Alaska to California worse than scientists thought

(Image credit: Twitter.com/RT_America)

last updated 6 August 2015

Researchers have discovered that a bloom of toxic algae off the West Coast is denser, deeper, and covers a larger area than previously thought.

Surveyors on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel found that the cloud of microscopic algae could be 40 miles wide and is 650 feet deep in some areas, The Associated Press reports. It's thriving due to unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures, stretches from Alaska down to California, and has forced fisheries to shut down. In Washington, elevated levels of toxins have been found in Dungeness crab meat, and more than half of the state's coast is now closed to crab fishing.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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