Red Tide Getting Deadlier on New England Coast

Last summer's red tide outbreak along the New England coast was the deadliest yet, killing fish and possibly birds, according to a report issued Friday.

"This was the worst we've had," said Darcie Couture, director of the Maine Biotoxin Monitoring Program, in an interview with the Portland Press Herald. "This year was just unbelievable." Last July, more than a dozen short-nosed sturgeon, an endangered species, were found floating dead at the mouth of the Kennebec River. The test results released yesterday confirmed the presence of red tide in the fish. This is believed to be the first time that red tide resulted in a significant fish kill. Also, about 20 dead eider ducks washed ashore at Cape Elizabeth during the same time. Tests on the birds have not come back yet, but Couture said she suspects red tide caused those deaths as well. And a woman on Swan’s Island became ill after she ate clams she had dug up, though she recovered. Along the New England coast, red tide is an algal bloom caused by the toxic algae alexandrium, and affects clams, mussels, oysters and other shellfish, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). In humans, these toxins can cause a potentially fatal illness known as paralytic shellfish poisoning. Outbreaks of red tide along the New England coast are not uncommon, and result in the closing of shellfish beds until the threat passes. According to research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, the outbreaks may be linked to storm activity and changes in wind direction that drive the algae closer to shore. What’s different now, according to Couture, are an increase in the frequency of these outbreaks and in higher levels of toxicity. "It definitely looks like something tripped, and we’re in this new environment where we’re subject to these incredibly strong” red tide outbreaks.