People remove Sargassum in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in April, 2022. Researchers expect this year will bring another massive bloom, choking local ecosystems and tourism economies. Elizabeth Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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algae bloom
Waveland and other beaches in Mississippi are closed because of a large algae bloom along the coast. The beach is seen here last September, as storm clouds from Tropical Storm Gordon approached. Jonathan Bachman/Reuters hide caption
A sign at Siesta Key beach cautions beachgoers to avoid swimming in the waters affected by red tide. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption
Green algae is seen in the St. Lucie River in Stuart, Fla. Local GOP Rep. Brian Mast is making legislation to deal with the algae problem a focus of his re-election campaign, as his Democratic opponent Lauren Baer criticizes him for doing "too little, too late." Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Bangs Island Mussels worker Jon Gorman sets juvenile mussels onto a rope that will be their home for the next year as they grow to market size. Fred Bever/Maine Public Radio hide caption
Dungeness crabs for sale at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. California's Dungeness crab season was shut down in 2015, when record high ocean temperatures and lingering toxic algae blooms raised the domoic acid in shellfish to unsafe levels. A new study links dangerously high levels of the neurotoxin to warmer ocean temperatures, suggesting such closures could become more common in the future. Eric Risberg/AP hide caption
Officials found the toxin microcystin in the blue-green algae present at Discovery Bay, Calif. For people exposed to the toxin, symptoms include dizziness, rashes, fever, vomiting and in more unusual cases, numbness. Lesley McClurg/KQED hide caption
Freshly cooked Dungeness crab sits on a pot of boiling water at Nick's Lighthouse Restaurant in San Francisco, Nov. 5, 2015. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
Paul Herringshaw says farmers like him have been taking steps to reduce crop runoff for years. Sarah Jane Tribble/WCPN hide caption