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Red tide continues to grow in region

Toxin extends to Nantucket

By Scott Goldstein, Globe Correspondent | June 4, 2005

The worst outbreak of red tide in New England in more than 30 years has spread to Nantucket and has infected close to two-thirds of the state's shellfish beds, state officials said last night.

''We've just picked up toxin in shellfish in the Nantucket waters, and approximate levels are still going up in the area around Chatham," said Michael Hickey, Massachusetts's chief shellfish biologist. ''All of Chatham is now closed, and we closed all of Nantucket, because we're seeing toxins now in other locations."

Shellfish beds are closed from central Maine to Chatham, along with all of Cape Cod Bay, parts of Bourne and Wareham in Buzzards Bay, Pleasant Bay, the eastern end of Nantucket Sound, and all of the waters in the town of Nantucket, Hickey said.

Last night, Don Anderson, a red tide specialist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said yesterday's samples showed red tide cell levels rising along the south side of the Cape from Woods Hole to Chatham, leading him to expect beds there could be closed within days. That would leave only parts of Buzzards Bay open, Anderson said.

Red tide is caused naturally by an explosion of single-celled organisms that collect in clams, mussels, and other shellfish. It is not harmful to the shellfish, but can cause illness or even death if ingested by humans.

Hickey stressed that all shellfish on the market are safe to eat and that the red tide does not affect lobsters, shrimp, crabs, or fish.

Warm temperatures forecast for the next several days are expected to cause the toxin levels to rise, Hickey said.

Scott Goldstein can be reached at sgoldstein@globe.com.