TITLE: ONE PFIESTERIA CELL FOUND IN ATLANTIC THE SCIENTISTS WHO STUMBLED UPON IT AFTER CLAM KILL AREN'T WORRIED.
BYLINE: LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
EST. PAGES: 2
DATE: 09/25/97
DOCID: NFLK72680356
SOURCE: The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA; NFLK
EDITION: FINAL; SECTION: LOCAL; PAGE: B2
(Copyright 1997)
Stirred-up sediment and unusually warm water killed thousands
of clams that washed ashore between Corolla and Sandbridge, Va.,
last week, scientists said Wednesday.
But while researchers were testing the shellfish and nearby
waters for signs of disease, they found a single cell of the microorganism
pfiesteria in the Atlantic Ocean.
The organism, in its toxic form, has killed or sickened millions
of fish in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland and is suspected
in health problems among watermen and researchers. But it is usually
associated with inland waters.
Pfiesteria is a common organism, but it can take on a toxic
form under certain environmental conditions. Scientists believe
that pollution triggers the transformation.
The single cell of pfiesteria found about a mile south of the
Corolla Lighthouse marks the first time in almost five years that
the algae-like creature has been documented in the sea off North
Carolina.
But scientists said that may be because they don't routinely
test the water for the organism unless there has been a fish kill
or other evidence of its presence. The organism can leave lesions
on the skin of dead or dying fish, and sometimes on humans.
"I don't think there's any need to get alarmed by it at
this time," Al Hodge, an engineer with the state Division
of Water Quality, said. "There's no indication the waters
up there aren't fine. Pfiesteria's probably been around forever.
And unless it gets into certain concentrations, it's not really
anything to be concerned about."
In December 1992, scientists discovered pfiesteria off Topsail
Beach, a report in biologist JoAnn Burkholder's office says. Burkholder
is the North Carolina State University professor who helped discover
the microorganism in 1990. She was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Hodge said the pfiesteria off the northern Outer Banks is a
very small amount and should not stop people from fishing or swimming.
The single cell was the equivalent of 12 cells per milliliter
of water, Hodge said Wednesday from his Washington, N.C., office.
He said it would take 10 times that many to produce enough toxins
to kill a fish.
"Our conclusion is that the passing of the hurricane off
the barrier islands disturbed the sediment that got into the juvenile
clams and brought unusually warm water into the area," Hodge
said. "The northern surf clams just couldn't survive. We
did't see any lesions on any of the clams - although we looked
at four gallon-bags filled with them.
"Our conclusion is that pfiesteria did not kill these
clams.
"But I was surprised that there was any pfiesteria at
all in the ocean around them."
Hugh Porter, a researcher in North Carolina's Sea Grant program,
also said that the Corolla clams had no lesions.
"Fish kill lesions from pfiesteria are pretty big, so
we'd see them," Porter said. "There was silt in these
clams' tissues which leads me to believe that siltation was part
of the problem.
"I don't think it was pfiesteria."
State water monitors will keep in touch with watermen who work
between Corolla and Virginia Beach to see if they notice any fish
with strange sores or fish washing ashore.
But Hodge said the division of water quality doesn't plan to do any follow-up monitoring in the area - or find out if more pfiesteria is nearby.
DESCRIPTORS: PFIESTERIA