Image : Researchers Report Potential for a "Moderate" New England "Red Tide" in 2012

Based on computer model simulations using the 2011 cyst map, researchers believe the 2012 bloom will be moderate in geographic extent. A total closure of between 126 - 250 miles (200 and 400 km) of coastline might occur somewhere along the Northeast coast. The locations of those closures cannot be specified since they depend on short-term episodic weather patterns that cannot be predicted months in advance. Examples of moderate years were 2006 and 2007 (the latter shown above). During those years, toxicity affected much of the Maine and New Hampshire coasts, but there were minimal closures in Massachusetts. (Compiled from information provided by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.) (Courtesy Don Anderson lab, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

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Last updated: January 22, 2013