Routine water quality monitoring by the Maryland Department of Natural Resource on May 7th encountered elevated concentrations of the Mahogany tide organism Prorocentrum minimum on the lower Pocomoke River at 9010 cells/ml. Encountering Prorocentrum minimum with bloom concentrations at the border of Maryland and Virginia should precede bloom concentrations moving up the Chesapeake Bay during the remainder of May. Cloudy and cool weather patterns predicted this week may reduce the intensity and extent of blooms to more localized regions for the near future. Please visit Maryland DNR's Eyes on the Bay website for tracking the location of this and other algal blooms.