What caused the most toxic algal bloom ever observed in Monterey Bay?

(Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) In spring 2015, the West Coast of North America experienced one of the most toxic algal blooms on record. The bloom consisted of diatoms in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, but researchers couldn't tell why these algae had become so toxic. A new paper in Geophysical Research Letters shows that, at least in Monterey Bay, this bloom became particularly toxic because of an unusually low ratio of silicate to nitrate in the waters of the bay.

Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - June 5, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: news