April 29, 2019 Why is the water green? |
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The water in some Eastern Shore tributaries has turned a neon green color this month. There have been numerous reports of bright green water this month from Broad Creek (a tributary to the lower Choptank River), the Wye River, Wye Narrows and the Miles River. The Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources investigated these reports with help from ShoreRivers. The green water was caused by a bloom of a very small species of green algae (unidentified coccoid chlorophyte). Cell counts were over 3 million cells/ml in Broad Creek and approximately 1 million cells/ml in the Wye and Miles River complex. |
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Figure 1: Image of bright green water on Broad Creek on April 10. Â Photo credit: Audrey Hansen | |
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