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To Stem Red Tides

WHOI researcher Dave Kulis and Pete Lyons, a guest student from Northeastern University (in boat), place a Lexan box into Salt Pond in Eastham, Mass. The box, crafted by Damon Gayer of the WHOI Carpenter Shop, was designed to test an experimental method to reduce the severity of “red tides.” These harmful algal blooms produce toxins that get incorporated into shellfish and can sicken humans who eat them. The algae form dormant cysts that settle atop bottom sediments and can survive for years, awaiting favorable conditions to germinate and create another bloom. Kulis’ work involves using a hydraulic rake to re-suspend bottom sediments, so that the cysts are buried in deeper, oxygen-poor sediment layers where they cannot germinate. (Photo by Dave Ralston, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)