Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Thursday, August 1st, 2024.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here and welcoming into the studio are great friend UW-Madison
Extension Wood Counties Anna Mitchell, Natural Resource Educator, Anna, always good to
see you.
They're always good to see you too James.
We have a great time when we get together, we always get a good conversation in and form
the audience, we'll have some fun and the topics you touch on are always timely and we're
going to go with algae today.
Which is very timely.
Very timely.
We've been on some of the lakes here in Central Wisconsin, Pete and Wilcastle Rock, some
of the tri-lakes.
You know very timely.
Absolutely.
But with that algae is one of those words that people hear it and I think they make assumptions
right away.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
I think you hear algae and immediately you go, oh that's bad, but before we get started
I just want to make it very clear that not every algae is harmful and that true algae like
green algae are a natural and important part of our aquatic ecosystems.
True algae are known as primary producers in our food webs which means that they can convert
sunlight and inorganic chemicals into usable energy for other living organisms and they're
also a very vital part in our food webs themselves.
So most algae are very microscopic, you can't really see them and they serve as a main supply
of high energy food for larger organisms like zooplankton and then the zooplankton are
eaten by smaller fish, smaller fish are eaten by larger fish, larger fish are eaten by
mammals, etc.
It goes on in the food web.
So our true algae, the not bad algae are very important in our aquatic ecosystems.
Yeah.
Which is integral to all of this and I appreciate the breakdown of that.
I have to say it reminds me a little bit of learning about like fats and how we were
told so long every fat is bad and then we start learning more and more, oh well there's
certain fats that are actually good for the body, good for the brain and some of that.
It's a very similar thing.
Yeah.
Yep.
I was just going to say some algae species, the ones that we kind of tend to think of as
those bad ones, even the good ones sometimes, they can produce excessive biomass which is
the biomass when we see it, it's called a bloom, right?
It's the green mats that you see, if you have like a pool outside for your dog and you
see that mat of green on it, that might be what we call a bloom.
And that sometimes, depending on the species of algae, can lead to harmful impacts to the
environment, like low to no oxygen or even a certification of water.
Sometimes it impacts human communities, we'll get into a species of algae that kind of impacts
us here and then sometimes the conditions can lead to poor taste in the water, sometimes
an odor that is unbearable and obviously that can affect recreation tourism and sometimes
even drinking water which is not common around here because we get a majority of our drinking
water from underground, from the groundwater.
I imagine they are, or know that they are dealing with a little bit of this in the
Olympics right now in Paris with some of the triathletes and everything going into the
water and them checking it and everything, there's a lot of interesting stuff going around
through on the world when it comes to this topic.
But today we're going to focus on some common freshwater HAB.
Yep, yep.
And when you say HAB, what we're referring to are harmful algal blooms, so that lead
to impacts on human health and the environment are referred to as harmful algal blooms.
Those are those HABs.
And we're going to focus on one very common HAB in our area, HAB, and that's blue green
algae.
Okay, now I'm sure that, I mean, I know what blue green algae is, but you know, just in
case the audience doesn't, I don't know actually, I don't know, what is our blue green
algae?
So blue green algae are a group of photosynthetic bacteria that are most found or that are
most often blue green in color.
They can vary to all blue, all green, reddish purple, or even brown.
There are many different species of blue green algae around here.
We see a lot of the green blue green algae and sometimes even the blue if it's a pretty
bad bloom.
So if you're out on water and you look into it into the water and it looks like there's
just this, I don't, it looks like pea soup, that's the best way I can describe it.
That's probably blue green algae, pea soup, just thick, yucky, sometimes when it gets
that blue in it, it looks like maybe a little bit of a oil stain of blue in that thick
mat of green.
It's like a scum.
Okay.
Pretty gross.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When it comes to like the certain environmental conditions, can this grow quickly?
Yeah.
Yep.
So blue green algae generally grows in lakes, ponds, and slow moving streams when the
water is warm and enriched with extra nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen.
So when environmental conditions are just right, those algae can grow very quickly in numbers.
They just start to multiply really quickly, which is what causes a bloom.
So most species are buoyant, which means that they'll float to the surface where they
form that scum layer, which is what we see, or floating mats even sometimes.
And when this happens, obviously we have a blue green algae bloom.
In Wisconsin, blue green algae blooms generally occur between mid-June and late-September.
So kind of, we're smack in the middle of it.
Yeah.
Timely.
Yeah.
Although in rare instances, we have seen some blooms in winter under the ice, which is
really not common.
Yeah.
That sounds fascinating, actually.
That's really interesting.
Yep.
And at this point, you might be thinking to yourself, well, how does blue green algae
different from true algae?
So cyanobacteria, which is the blue green algae and green algae, which is true algae, blooms
are often confused since both can produce a dense surface and water column growth that
can impede on our recreation, like it just doesn't look pleasant.
And blue green algae are generally not eaten by aquatic organisms, like true algae are.
Yep.
That's interesting.
Okay.
So that kind of messes up that food web we were talking about.
Yeah.
So if you have blue green algae, that's really dominant.
It's not a food source, not like true algae is.
However, unlike cyanobacteria, which is that blue green algae, green algae are not generally
known to produce those toxins, which can be really harmful and those toxins are known
as cyanotoxins, which actually can lead to a lot of health risks in humans and even animals.
So that cyanobacteria, blue green algae, can produce cyanotoxins.
They're really impactful to us.
It sounds like it.
So how do blue green algae blooms even occur?
So under the right conditions, blue green algae can multiply very rapidly into a bloom, and
I think I just said that a little while ago.
But the potential for blooms comes down to nutrient loads, which is the amount of nutrients
like phosphorus and nitrogen that are in our water.
So in abundance, those nutrients can be a real big problem.
They occur naturally in our waters, but when they're over what their limit should be,
it can cause a blue green algae bloom.
The elements enter the waterways, so that the elements I'm talking about are that nitrogen
and phosphorus.
Those enter the waterways from point source pollution, so that can be industrial or wastewater
treatment plants and discharges.
Non-point sources like septic tanks that are not functioning properly in our seeping, storm
water runoff from urban areas, farms, and residential areas too.
When the conditions are just right for nitrogen and phosphorus in the water, and we have an
increased temperature, so increased temperature, the sunlight conditions, and flow are just
right.
That triggers a bloom, which, yeah, those blooms normally occur in Wisconsin when we've
got those warm, calm, sunny weather, and the temperatures are higher than 75 degrees.
The water temperature is higher than 75 degrees, so I think with the weather we've been having
now.
It's a perfect storm for it, yeah.
What are the effects of blue-green algae blooms?
You touched on this a little bit, but a little more detail if you wouldn't mind.
Yeah, yeah.
I just want to focus on the effects, because I don't think a lot of people know that it
can be as harmful as what it is.
So if you're going to pay attention to one thing, it should be this.
You know, very similar to when we've talked about lawns and some of that, people notice
when their lawn doesn't look the way they want it to, very similar to your water or wherever
you're taking it in and stuff, but how this happens, what it is doing, it's not just that
it doesn't look that pretty, or it's not that presentable, there's more to it than
that.
It's a great note to go to.
Much more.
Yeah.
People can become sick if they swallow, have skin contact with, or breathe in airborne
water droplets.
Well, swimming, swimming, boating, water skiing, tubing, any kind of outdoor activity in
the water that has harmful algae, like our blue-green algae.
So when someone becomes sick from exposure, they may experience vomiting, diarrhea, rash,
eye irritation, cough, sore throat, and a headache.
Symptoms generally start to occur within an hour to two days after exposure.
Hey, that's a bad time.
And that's an adult.
In case it's even worse.
Ooh.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, imagine.
Another important thing to touch on is our pets, like especially dogs, they're really susceptible
to exposure to blue-green algae because they're relatively small and tend to swallow a lot
more water when they're playing in it, and then when they're in the water, what do they
do when they come out?
They lick their coats, and they're just exposed to it.
Symptoms for dogs are very similar to those in humans, vomiting, weakness, difficulty breathing
seizures, and in the worst case, death.
Like, I have no a couple of people in this area whose pets have died from exposure to
blue-green algae.
So it's really not something that we want to play around with.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And whether it is our children or our furry friends, these are things that we, it's our job
to protect.
Yeah.
And being aware of these things is sometimes just as important as how you handle them and
how you fix them or however you'd like to word it.
Yeah.
It really cannot thank you enough for this topic today.
And we're speaking with Anna Mitchell, Natural Resource Educator, we need W. Madison Extension
Wood County.
What can you do to avoid exposure with this Anna?
Yeah.
I would say number, my number one rule is if you're questioning the water at all, if it
looks off to you, if it looks like pea soup, if there's a green film on top of it, that
is a lime green, any off color, just don't go in it.
Yeah.
Don't go in it.
I used to monitor beaches in my old job for blue-green algae.
And sometimes I would just sit there and shake my head at the people who were swimming
in blue-green algae.
And I'm like, how do I approach this politely?
You know, say, hey, come on.
I had the same feeling as a kid growing up in Chicago and seeing people going to Lake Michigan.
Yeah.
It's like, what are you doing?
What are you doing?
Yeah.
But I guess you don't know what you don't know.
And that's why I'm here right now.
So number one rule, like I said, if you're questioning it, just stay out.
Keep yourself out.
Keep your pets out.
Trust your gut so you can protect your gut.
Yeah.
That is very good, James.
Yep.
So avoid or just minimize recreating waters that appear that they might have blue-green algae
blooms.
If you come in contact with it, make sure you wash yourself off with fresh water right
away.
Yep.
And monitor yourself for any of those symptoms, right?
Obviously, don't let your animals drink or swim in the water if they go in it and you
catch them in it to the same thing.
Once them off, make sure that you're trying your best not to let them let their coat.
That's hard.
Yeah.
But just try your best.
And then if you do come in contact with blue-green algae, if you think you're experiencing symptoms
related to exposure, like I had mentioned, contact your doctor or even the Wisconsin Poison
Center right away.
They'll give you guidelines on how to treat it, what to look for, how to continue monitoring
it.
It's a health professional, no.
And then obviously if you're pet display symptoms, like seizures, any of those major ones vomiting
diarrhea after going into water that looks suspect, make sure to call your vet as soon
as possible.
Which is very helpful to know.
Oftentimes, we almost forget that it can be similar rules for us as our animals.
And when our animal is hurting or our child is hurting, a lot of rational thought goes
out the window.
So it really does help having these things kind of in mind already as we, you know, and try
to enjoy our summers and try to enjoy the water and all the great pathways we have around
here and everything.
Yeah.
And what do you want to do when the weather is like it is now?
It's hot.
It's humid.
You want to go swimming.
Sometimes just maybe look at the water before you go in.
Do that little assessment before you go in.
And then if you or anybody you know or your pet even is exposed and becomes ill from
harmful algoblooms, you should also report the case to the Bureau of Environmental and
Occupational Health or visit the Department of Health Services in our area.
So lots to look out for, lots to keep in mind.
But, you know, Anna, just to piggyback on that question, the last comment you had there,
if we do see these things, should we report this to the DNR?
Should we report it to you?
Is that also important to do?
You don't report it to me, but yeah, you can report it to DNR.
If you go to DNR website, you can search on their website, HABs or even blue-green algae.
And then they have a tab on there that says report an algobloom, report a harmful algobloom.
They have, oh, email, you can email them at to its DNR, H-A-B-S, at Wisconsin.gov.
And you can let them know where that algobloom is, et cetera.
I would highly recommend you go to the website first because they want you to include some
information in that initial email.
All that, all the more data they have, the better that it is for them.
Yep, yep.
They don't have the capacity just to continuously monitor every single lake during every day
of the summer for a harmful algobloom.
So we really rely on citizen support when it comes to things like this.
I forgive me if I have this wrong, but I think we even had a topic once where we talked
about how much water we have in this state, how much lakes we have in everything.
There's a lot to cover here.
It takes, you know, really all eyes to be able to do these things.
We have a great DNR, wonderful people over that program, shout out to them and the good
work that they do.
Our extension of friends like you and I'm doing such great work, but there's only so many
eyeballs, there's so many, so many people.
It really helps out a long ways when you're able to give us this data and this information
too.
And I think too that one of the things that you've kind of touched on and this is really
important as well, especially if you've been seeing this for your, you know, anytime of
your life and you've just kind of looked at it and so, well, that doesn't look right,
I'm not going near that, but that's the end of the story for you.
You can actually help with this.
We can make an impact on this subject.
Oh, yeah.
We can, we can make an impact.
And I said, um, talking about how those algal blooms form, right?
We said excessive nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen.
If you live on a lake, it doesn't even matter if you live on a lake.
If you're, have a yard or if you have a, you know, yard, just, do you have land?
Do you have land?
Do you have a yard?
Anything like that if you're using fertilizer for your grass.
Make sure that you are fertilizing when needed.
Don't fertilize just because you want to and just because you think your grass needs
it.
Wait until you know your grass needs it and then do it according to the rules from the
manufacturer.
Don't just go throw it on there because and especially don't, don't fertilize your
yarn long right before it rains because it does not have time to absorb and then it
just washes right into any water system that we have.
It's really important.
That point is to if you live on a lake, you know, I think in our minds, we see a lake house
and we see that gorgeous landscaping with that nice green yard.
But just know what it takes to get that nice green yard is also affecting how green your
lake is as well.
So it's a give and take, right?
And you know that that burger you see in the commercial does not look like it does when
you order it.
Like images in these things are a little bit overdone, I think they're a little oversold.
The most beautiful lawns are the ones that are healthy and have a healthy, a surrounding
area as well.
And what you put into our land affects all of our land.
Yeah, yeah.
And everything goes for like urban areas and agriculture, right?
Yes.
So when you run off, it gets into our lakes just as easily as the people that live right
on lakes, right?
It's just not maybe as a direct impact.
Properly maintaining storm water systems, it seems like an important one too.
Yeah.
If you just take the time to look at your storm water systems at your house, clean your
gutters out, right?
Clean your gutters out.
Maybe you have a rain garden where water's pooling helps it filter out, septic tanks.
Make sure that they're up to date.
They're not leaching.
Yeah.
There's a lot of different things that we can do to help reduce non-point source pollution.
And this topic is too big for us not all to be, it's all hands on deck when it comes to
this stuff.
We need everybody, every community member, every person, whether you're a homeowner or
not, whether you live in an apartment or you have a bunch of land that you live on, everybody
is important and everybody's data is important on this one.
And I do think too, and this is just me speaking here, but I think accountability is very
important too.
Having self accountability, but certainly to our businesses out there as well and making
sure that, hey, people are not putting into our land, people are not dumping things or
any of this.
I'm not saying that it's happening.
I'm saying that we don't want it to happen.
So let's keep an eye on the ball.
Let's make sure of this.
Let's hold ourselves and these companies accountable and make sure that we're keeping our land not
only good for us, but for future generations, which is what this is all about.
Our land and water.
Yes.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Anna, we've touched on some really great things today.
One more time, I wouldn't, if you wouldn't mind, if you see significant blue-green algae bloom,
who should we contact?
Who should we email?
Yep.
You should email the DNR email address DNRHABS at Wisconsin.gov.
The DNR website has further details on what should be included in that email if you go
to DNR website and then just search blue-green algae.
There'll be a tab that says report a bloom.
You know, I imagine too, for some, especially people like me, that are visual learners.
Maybe if you haven't seen this that much, you know, looking at the website there is
going to be a real good reference for you.
Yes.
There's so many incredible websites that you can go to and resources.
I mean, Minnesota DNR has great resources for algal blooms.
Just if you don't know what it looks like, they all have a device in our pockets where we
can easily look it up.
We got these supercomputers.
We'll walk it around with you.
We also want to encourage you to reach out.
You know, the gang at UW Extension, not just to Anna, but everybody over there has the
same mission and really trying to do the same things and form you.
There are no bad questions.
There is not any bad questions you could ask UW team over there.
So if you are curious about some of these things and some of those other resources, just
aren't really hitting it for you or you just want to talk to a person to ask these questions
or find out more, encourage you to reach out to Anna and if they want to do that, how
can they?
Like James said, you can stop in and see us at the Wood County Courthouse and then you
can email me at Anna.m.james at whisk.edu.
That name again, that was the answer.
You know, I just realized it's been way too long since I've been over there.
I got to stop by over there too.
I got to say hi to everybody over there.
I'll make them think, oh, wait a minute, I got to interview today and we'll stop by.
But Anna, you know how much we appreciate you and our community does and the work that
you're doing here.
Thank you so much.
Keep up the great work.
Enjoy your summer.
We will talk again real soon.
Yeah.
Thank you so much James.
And thank you all for joining us.
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