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Reports of dead sturgeon from Heterosigma algae bloom on San Francisco Bay are coming in [1]
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Date: 2023-08-03
The first reports of dead sturgeon from the Heterosigma algae bloom on San Francisco Bay are now coming in. Five dead sturgeon off Point Molate in the bay were reported by naturalist Damon Tighe in a Facebook post just minutes ago.
"Pt Molate today after work: 5 dead sturgeon," according to Tighe. “This die off is way ahead of the spread of the Heterosigma algae bloom. NOT GOOD. We are still three weeks away from when the algae bloom peaked last year.  I also received a report today of a sturgeon behaving atypical at the surface near Tiburon."
He also pointed out how people can help document this tragic event.
“If you have time, please walk San Francisco bay shore, lines, and photograph dead fish,” he urged. “Upload them to iNaturalist and marke them as dead. Those observations will populate this project that CDFW is monitoring.” 
https://www.inaturalist.org/.../sf-bay-harmful-algae...
“Please make 1 observation per fish, put your foot or hand next to the fish for scale, shoot the dorsal ridge, vent, and barbels if you can. Also, please take a photograph of the scene in which the fish was found. This will make it easier to de-dupe data. Or feel free to mark the fish in some manner to show it’s been observed,” he concluded.
In addition, 3 dead sea lions have apparently been reported on the Richmond shoreline near Marina Bay. Richmond Vice Mayor Gayle McLaughlin has been in touch with city staff and they informed NOAA Marine Mammal Stranding Network – West Coast Region, the regulatory agency that requires notification regarding removal of deceased sea lions or seals.
I'm currently waiting for more details on this report from staff at the Richmond Public Works Department Water Resource Recovery Division.
On Monday, July 31, environmentalists and government agencies first revealed that another harmful algae bloom is taking place in sections of the bay this year.
San Francisco Baykeeper's field science team investigated reports to the organization's pollution hotline and confirmed reddish brown (“tea colored”) waters in the Berkeley marina, and subsequently along the shores of Emeryville, Berkeley, and Albany, according to a press statement from the group.
“We’re carefully monitoring and tracking the bloom because we know the horrible effects that last year’s algae bloom had on marine life,” Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, told reporters in a press conference on Monday afternoon announcing the bloom.
”We have confirmed with our partners that it’s the same species as last year,” said White, referring to the Heterosigma akashiwo algae.
At the time, White said, “The good news is we have not seen any marine animal deaths as a result of this algae bloom.”
However, that has all changed with the reports today. In 2023, a harmful bloom of the same algae caused a red tide that spread across the Bay, from northern San Pablo Bay to the southern reaches of San Francisco Bay, resulting in an unprecedented fish kill event, the San Francisco Baykeeper noted.
“It’s alarming to see an algae outbreak of this size in the Bay for the second year in a row," said Baykeeper science director Jon Rosenfield, PhD. "While it’s too early to tell how this harmful algae bloom will proceed, there’s not much that we can do to stop it once it has started. Prevention is the only cure."
Algae blooms are fueled by elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, also called “nutrient pollution,” said Rosenfield.
“San Francisco Bay has some of the highest levels of nutrient pollution of any estuary in the world. This pollution comes primarily from the region’s 37 wastewater treatment plants, which discharge partially treated sewage into the Bay,” he stated.
“The good news is we know how to reduce the nutrient pollution that fuels harmful algal blooms, and many of these solutions have multiple benefits," Rosenfield added. "We urge the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board to upgrade permits for Bay Area wastewater treatment facilities to dramatically reduce nutrient loads discharged into the Bay, and to encourage nature-based and other multi-benefit solutions."
Rosenfield said wastewater treatment plants can be modernized to recycle wastewater, reducing nitrogen and phosphorus discharges in the process. Building treatment wetlands would capture sewage pollution before it enters the Bay. Restoring the Bay’s historic natural wetlands would absorb excess nitrogen and phosphorus from Bay waters.
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