Between April 23 and April 30, bloom events were recorded from the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays watersheds with the mahogany tide dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum, Karlodinium micrum and a cyanophyte (blue-green alga) Lyngbya. Several bloom events were in association with fish kill sites investigated by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Routine water quality monitoring of the Coastal Bays by Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also produced samples with low to moderate concentrations of the potentially toxic dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuminata. Warming temperatures and much needed rains have arrived this spring. Runoff from the recent storm events, however, will deliver a nutrient pulse to the Bays and their tributaries that will likely feed additional algal blooms throughout the spring season.

Dinophysis acuminata
Coastal Bays - Dinophysis was recorded in low to moderate concentrations at three sites on the St. Martin River. Concentrations ranged from 1000-6000 cells/Liter (i.e., 1-6 cells/ml). During late winter in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Potomac River shellfishery was temporarily closed due to elevated concentrations of this potentially toxic dinoflagellate but has since been reopened. The St. Martin River will continue to be monitored throughout the year.