TITLE: Science's search for a tiny killer; Algae alert: Fish sores, ulcers prompt federal grants for Chesapeake Bay study.
EST. PAGES: 1
DATE: 07/25/97
DOCID: BSUN524265
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun; BSUN
EDITION: FINAL; SECTION: EDITORIAL; PAGE: 20A
CATEGORY: EDITORIAL
(Copyright 1997 @ The Baltimore Sun Company)
BEWARE THE flesh-eating creature from the bottom of the
bay! It's a perfect ad for one of those silly 1950s science fiction
movies. It's also nonsense, with just a hint of reality, like
those fantastical films.
But it is true that the federal government has rushed through
grants of $500,000 this month to study the toxic "ambush
algae" that may have caused some ulcers and sores on fish
in the Chesapeake Bay and has been detected in two fish kills.
The suspect microorganism, one of more than 700 algae species
in the bay, is pfiesteria piscicida. It has been associated with
sporadic mass fish kills in other parts of the East Coast. It
also has sickened lab researchers, raising possible concern for
human health effects, although not for casual swimmers.
Chesapeake scientists say there's no proof the alga is significantly
affecting bay fish or is the cause of any kills here. But incidents
of bay fish with lesions, which could be caused by pfiesteria,
have been reported since last fall. After Gov. Parris Glendening
caught several, the state set up a hot line to take angler reports.
Finding the tiny elusive alga, which goes through 20 changes
of form and lies dormant in bottom muds for years, is a major
challenge, as recent conflicting lab studies of Chesapeake water
samples showed. Pinpointing it as the cause of fish kills in the
bay is more difficult.
Maryland and Virginia scientists are analyzing 13 years of
archived water samples from the bay; volunteer monitors are sampling
waterways to detect the organism. Biologists are taking water
samples and fish from the Pocomoke River through the summer to
search for the alga, which paralyzes fish with toxin, causing
them to suffocate, then eats their flesh.
Prompt scientific efforts to determine the cause and extent
of fish lesions in the Chesapeake and tributaries, including the
study of pfiesteria, should alleviate unfounded public fears and
lead to sensible solutions.
Disaster-disease hype is best left for the movies.
Pub Date: 7/25/97