The St. Maarten Nature Foundation has been monitoring an algal bloom within sections of the Simpson Bay Lagoon over the past few weeks. Boaters in the area have been complaining to the Nature Foundation of algae clogging the intakes of their vessel engines and a few islotated fish die-offs have been occuring due to the presence of the algae. During two research dives in the Lagoon it was established that the probable identity of the algae is likely Ulveria oxysperma and Ulva Linza, both species are indicative of an increase in pollution levels and a decrease in water quality for the wider Simpson Bay Lagoon.
Based on the probable identification of the species, water quality was tested in order to determine the possible cause of the algal bloom and a correlation to water quality. “We are a bit concerned that we have seen an increase in algae in the Lagoon, which is related to a drop in water quality and in increase in pollution levels. Our preliminary results have shown that indeed there was a drop in water quality with an increase in temperature related to us entering the hottest part of the year. We are also trying to determine whether or not the current algae bloom is related to the effects of the hundreds of boats and other types of infrastructure being sunk or damaged after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. This is definitely possible considering the type of stress the Simpson Bay Lagoon has been undergoing as an ecoystem and we expected for some time now for the environment in the Lagoon to react to that huge environmental stress. For the time being we will keep an eye on the situtation and hopefully the bloom will dissapate in a few weeks,” commented Tadzio Bervoets of the Nature Foundation.