Harmful Algal Information System: Event US-16-030

General Information

Event name:	US-16-030
Country:	UNITED STATES
Nature of the harmful event:	High Phyto concentration
Event directly affected:
Toxicity detected:	Yes (Approximate range: 0-9.3痢/g)
Associated syndrome:
Unexplained toxicity:	No
Species implicated in toxin transmission (transvector):
Report the outcome of a monitoring programme:	Yes (Jefferson Turner's Lab (UMASS) Buzzards Bay Phytoplankton Monitoring)
Event occurred before in this location:	Yes
Individuals to contact:	HICKEY, Mike , O'NEIL, Terry

Location & Date

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Location:	Latitude: , Longitude:
General location information:	Buzzards Bay, Nantuckey Sound ++, MA HAB Area code(s): US-07
Additional location information:	Precautionary closure to shellfishing affected all areas in Massachusets south of Cape Cod (a total of approximately 843,797 acres) 1st reported 10/6/16, areas closed to shellfishing on 10/7/16 and re-opened on 10/31/16
Bloom event dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):	First detection: 2016-10-07, End: 2016-10-31
Additional date-related information:

Microalgae

Causative organism known:	No
Causative Species/Genus:	Pseudo-nitzschia spp. (762,300 cells/L)
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus:
Chlorophyll concentration, if known:	µg/l
Additional bloom information:
Event-related bibliography:

Environmental Conditions

Weather:	Turbidity (NTU):	Wind direction:
Stratified water:	Oxygen content (nL/L):	Wind velocity:
Temperature (°C):	Oxygen saturation %:	Current Direction:
Sechhi disk (m):	Salinity:	Current Velocity:

Nutrient information:

Temperature Range During Event:

Max: °C, Min: °C

Salinity Range During Event:

Bloom location in the water column:

Whole column

Growth:

Growth Comments

Additional Environmental information:

Toxin Assay Information

Species containing the toxin	Toxin type	Toxin details	Max. concentration	Assay type
Quahogs - Mercenaria mercenaria	Domoic Acid		9.3痢/g	Other

Kit used:

Type of kit used:

Additional information:

HPLC - Bigelow Lab, ME Scotia Kit Following initial toxixity testing using HPLC, and area closures, Scotia Kits were used going forward to screen for toxicity in shellfish meats from a variety of species. Plankton samples and cell counts were used to track the extent and intensity of the bloom.

Economic losses:

Management decision:

After initial reports of a large Pseudonitzschia bloom all Massachusetts growing areas south of Cape Cod were closed to all shellfishing (closures lasted from 10/7/16 - 10/31/16).

Additional harmful effect information:

Created at 06:29 on 23 Mar 2017
Updated at 02:48 on 6 Feb 2020