Officials expect cooler weather to end algae bloom
Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, December 30, 2015
- These are among the dead fish that land servicing crews picked up after they washed ashore along the beach in Bay St. Louis and Waveland, Miss., on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources suspects the deaths are related to red tide algae that moved through the Mississippi Sound in early December. (Jennifer Lenain/The Sun Herald via AP)
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Officials are expecting cooler temperatures to weaken the red tide algae bloom that has affected the coast.
The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/1Pwgxqu ) reports temperatures in the area will begin to drop from the 70s to the 40s and 30s.
Public Information Officer for the state Department of Marine Resources Melissa Scallan says that if the temperatures could stay down for three or four days, the cooler weather would really help dissipate the algae bloom. She says the algae thrive in warm temperatures and that recent rain can also help break the bloom.
The outbreak has closed area beaches and oyster reefs since it was detected earlier in the month. The bloom has also been blamed for dead marine life washing ashore.