Algae in Green Lake, February 8, 2011. Photo courtesy Richard Fleming, Friends of Green Lake
The Friends of Green Lake, a local group which formed in 2003 to address the massive algae blooms in Green Lake, recently alerted the neighborhood about the resurgence of toxic algae scums along Green Lake’s shoreline.
On January 2, 2011, the group sent a lake water sample to the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, who forwarded the sample to a lab.
The lab measured 64 mcg/liter of a microcystin, a liver toxin, in the water sample from Green Lake. According to the Washington State Department of Health, the recommended recreational guidance value for microcystins is just 6 mcg/liter.
“My personal recommendation,” says Gayle Garman of the Friends of Green Lake, ”is if you see a green film on the water, keep the kids and dogs away from it. Don’t let your child or your dog have contact with the scum, nearby water or shoreline.”
The Friends of Green Lake also asks that if you see algae in Green Lake, report the specific location to them right away. If you can, snap a photo of the algae. You can reach the Friends of Green Lake at (206) 525-1974. You can also contact Sally Abella of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks at (206) 296-8382.
Garyle Garman will be discussing Green Lake’s algae at tonight’s Green Lake Community Council meeting.
Thanks for reporting on this, Amy. We’d like to set up a website or some other electronic billboard where people could report any scums on the water and attach a photo. Assuming FOGL then decides to run a test for microcystin (the liver toxin), we’d attach that information, also. This would be public, so anyone on their way to the Lake, or just wanting to check on the history of algae scums, could check the electronic file. PROBLEMO: Our electronic skills are not quite up to speed; except for our wonderful webmaster, Ellen Hewitt, and she is already doing so much. I thought this might be something one or two or three of your readers could help us with. If interested, you can contact us at FriendsofGL@gmail.com
Gayle Garman, President
Friends of Green Lake
Why not use twitter as your “electronic billboard”? That’s essentially what it is and the entire ecosystem/infrastructure to Tweet a picture with a short description to a specified account (something like @GLalgae) is already there. This would be easy to implement and nearly everyone has a camera in their phone and knows how to tweet these days. Also, no, I have no desire to help you do this, I hear enough about FoGL from my Aunt……..