A team of Annamalai University’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Marine Biology on Sunday began research on the presence of harmful algal blooms in the Bay of Bengal along the Andhra Pradesh coast.
The four-member team, led by Associate Professor P. Ananda Raman, has collected water samples from the sea near Machilipatnam for testing water parameters and presence of algal blooms.
Annamalai University is one of the universities involved in the research on monitoring and surveillance of harmful algal blooms in the Indian Economic Exclusive Zone.
The team will collect the water samples and study the waters of the Bay of Bengal in locations, including Nellore, Ongole, Visakhapatnam and Kakinda. The research project will be submitted to the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) by early next year.
“We have already completed the study in Tamil Nadu [coast], where the presence of red and green algal blooms was found. The presence of harmful algal blooms was also recorded in Kerala,” Mr. Ananda Raman said. Interacting with the fisher folk engaged in fishing in the Bay of Bengal, Mr. Ananda Raman had advised them not to catch fish when they encountered blue or green algal blooms in the sea. The algal bloom survives for only three days. The fishermen had confirmed the presence of the harmful algal blooms in the Bay of Bengal as they had seen the sea water colour change to red. They had been requested to inform the presence of harmful algal blooms to the Machilipatnam-based M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation authorities for further study.
Mass fish mortality
He said the presence of harmful algal would cause mass fish mortality. It had been proved that there were greater chances of acquiring diseases and serious ailments, including paralytic stroke, if fish caught in the algal bloom area were consumed.
‘There are greater chances of acquiring serious ailmentsif fish caught in affected area are consumed’
— source thehindu.com