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Blue Green Algae


TAZ

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Hi fellas. Took a drive to one of our trout lakes yesterday here in Vic. Tullaroop. Over the last 3 mths we have had our coldest wettest long spell in decades. 3 months of cold cloudy, rainy weather. But at Tullaroop there is actually a big Blue Green Algae outbreak, with signs up warning of it and its visible too. I've never seen that in winter before. I dread to go near it when the weather warms up. They reckon when I enquired that if fertiliser levels are at higher than normal levels (whats normal?) in the catchment area then it can cause an outbreak even in cold weather. Looking grim for that lake in summer, wont waste my time travelling to it. I steer clear of Blue Green Algae areas these days after I watched a show and some Drs believe there is a link, not the only cause but one of, to Motor Neurone disease. Would take a flood to flush that out. Anyone ever seen that in winter? 

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Used to see it in fish farm ponds all year but they're generally warm and full of nutrients, it's only dangerous if you drink the water or imerse in it, but will cause nasty weedy or "off" flavour in fish, bit of pointless trivia it's not actually a true algae it belongs to a group called "cyanobacteria" and produces a very potent neurotoxin 

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On 8/8/2019 at 1:36 PM, dirvin21 said:

Used to see it in fish farm ponds all year but they're generally warm and full of nutrients, it's only dangerous if you drink the water or imerse in it, but will cause nasty weedy or "off" flavour in fish, bit of pointless trivia it's not actually a true algae it belongs to a group called "cyanobacteria" and produces a very potent neurotoxin 

No, not trivial info at all mate, didnt know that it wasn't a true algae. I reckon it's more dangerous than people realise. They reckon if they can nail what it is in particular in it with the cause of Motor Neurone disease then they can come closer to fighting MN and hopefully find a cure. I hope they do its a terrible disease. I'm a volunteer in a hospital with people that suffer things like that and it's heartbreaking to see the deteriation. Cheers mate. 

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Interesting never heard of the link with MND would be interested how they discovered it given exposure to blue green algae wouldn't be overly common, but if it leads to a cure fingers crossed, I know MND all to well I work in health

I do agree the stuff is dangerous when exposed I've heard of cattle dying from drinking contaminated water

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4 hours ago, dirvin21 said:

Interesting never heard of the link with MND would be interested how they discovered it given exposure to blue green algae wouldn't be overly common, but if it leads to a cure fingers crossed, I know MND all to well I work in health

I do agree the stuff is dangerous when exposed I've heard of cattle dying from drinking contaminated water

Here is a link to info about it. I cant recall the program I watched. 

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.abc.net.au/article/10943826

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I, too, thought that BGA was prominent in the warm/hot months. Also aware of the links to chemical runoffs from agriculture. Never a good thing to have in any waterway and very hard to get rid of. It would be wonderful if a cure for MND resulted from any research, that's for sure. Thanks for the report TAZ. bn

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