EVANSVILLE—A long-time seasonal Evansville resident says that for the first time ever, he saw blue-green algae on the east shore of Lake Wolsey. While it cleared up the next day, he is providing a heads-up to other area residents of what could be lurking in their water this summer.
“I am 65 years old, and we have had this property in my family since the 1930s—I have never seen this before,” stated the man who wished to remain anonymous, on Wednesday of last week.
The resident explained in an email to The Expositor on Tuesday, July 8, “We have a pretty dramatic blue-green algae bloom happening here on the east shore of Lake Wolsey; there was no sign of it yesterday. Apparently, it’s very toxic so I wanted to spread the word.”
“I know seeing blue-green algae in the water could be serious, that it is toxic. I have read the articles in your paper in years past of other cases of it around the Island,” the resident told The Expositor. “It was horrible Tuesday, scum all over the rocks and my entire harbour was the colour of pea soup.”
“Fortunately, things are far better today (July 9),” said the local resident. “There is still a lot of ugly algae around right now, but not nearly as bad as it was yesterday. We are the only one in the neighbourhood that saw the algae bloom yesterday. I didn’t want this incident to pass without anyone knowing about it, to alert everyone it has been in the area.”
If you suspect a blue-green algae bloom, please contact the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks at 1-800-268-6060.
