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FEDERATIONOFONTARIOCOTTAGERSASSOCIATIONS9MichellePalmerEnvironmentalMonitoringandReportingBranchMOEIn2013theFederationofOntarioCottagersAssociationstheCentralAlgomaFreshwaterCoalitionandtheMinistryoftheEnvironmentMOEinitiatedacollaborativeprojecttoinvestigatethefactorsthatpromoterecurrentblue-greenalgalbloomsinOntariolakes.Algalbloomscanoccurwhenthereisexcessgrowthofthealgaeinalake.Thesebloomsareofconcernbecausetheycancauseunpleasanttastesandodoursandsometypesofblue-greenalgaecanproducetoxinsthatcanaffecthumansandotheranimals.VolunteerlakestewardscollectedsamplesfromfourlakesintheAlgomaareaofNorthernOntariobetweenMayandOctoberof2013.Threeoftheselakeshaverecurrentalgalbloomswhilebloomshavenotbeenreportedinthenearbyfourthlake.Over500samplebottlesoflakewaterand40temperatureanddissolvedoxygenprofileswerecollected.WatersampleswereanalyzedbyMOEforwaterqualityincludingnutrientschlorophyllaciditymetalscarbonandionslikecalciumandchloride.Thealgaesamplescollectedwillbeanalyzedtoidentifythetypesofalgaepresentandhowabundanttheyareoverthegrowingseason.Samplescollectedbythelakestewardsarealsobeinganalyzedforalgaltoxins.TheseresultswillcontributetotheMicrobes-CyanotoxinsProjectoftheGlobalLakeEcologicalObservatoryNetworkwhichisworkingtoidentifydriversofalgaltoxinproductionataglobalscale.EarlyanalysesbyMOEsuggestsurfacewaterphosphoruslevelsarehigherandnitrogentophosphorusratiosarelowerinthelakeswithrecurrentalgalblooms.WhenMOEsanalysisiscompletedareportontheresultsofthestudywillbemadeavailable.Getmoreinformationonlineatwww.foca.on.casearchbluegreenalgae.UpdateBlue-GreenAlgaeMonitoringImagecourtesyHKPRDistrictHealthUnitToreportasuspectedblue-greenalgalbloomcontacttheMOESpillsActionCentre1-800-268-6060oryourMOEDistrictoffice.