Climate Crisis: giant algae bloom off Pacific Coast

An image taken from a weather satellite shows swirling masses of a single-cell phytoplankton called coccolithophore off the west coast of Vancouver Island and Washington state. Scientists have been tracking the massive algae bloom, which is not considered harmful, since it first appeared in Barkley Sound on June 21. Photograph by : NASA

Scientists are worried that global warming might have contributed to creating an algae bloom off the west coast of Vancouver Island that is so big it can be seen from space.

At the Institute of Ocean Sciences in North Saanich, researchers are tracking the swirling mass that runs the length of the Island’s west coast. They believe it consists mainly of coccolithophore, a naturally occurring, single-cell phytoplankton.

It’s the biggest algae bloom institute physicist Jim Gowen has seen.

“The bloom is good in that it means there are lots of nutrients out there for things to grow,” he said. “But what we’re worried about is that if global warming is going to really kick in and start warming everything up, then the prediction has to be that we’ll see more of these things more often. It’s certainly worrying when you see the biggest one, because you think that it’s a sign things are getting worse.”