RYE, N.H. (AP) – Thousands of tiny creatures known as salp are sliming the town’s beaches.
Police and firefighters responded to a 911 call Friday from someone concerned about a possible oil spill at Jenness Beach, a state beach.
They quickly determined the slime was harmless, but didn’t know what the dime-sized creatures were, so they took several samples to the Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne Point State Park.
Steven Engstrom, the aquarist at the science center, quickly identified the gelatious creatures as salp – boneless, barrel-shaped creatures about the size of a dime that drift with the current. Bands of muscles pulse to pump water through a mucous membrane that traps plankton, their food.
The salps were still in coastal waters Monday, Engstrom said. The last time they washed ashore was 2001.
“Salps are pretty interesting creatures,” he told the Portsmouth Herald. “Salps are native to this area, but are usually found farther offshore. Every once in a while, we get blooms and they wash ashore. They can be found as individuals or in chains. These were individual.”
Toxic algae threatens lake
FRANKLIN, Vt. (AP) – The state is warning people to keep dogs and children away from Lake Carmi, where toxic blue-green algae is growing.
Last week the Vermont Department of Health put up signs at the Franklin General Store, the post office, and the town clerk’s office. Public access areas were posted last month after a man spotted the algae.
A water sample taken from Lake Carmi more than a week ago was found to contain blue-green algae, said state toxicologist Bill Bress. The algae contains the toxin microcystin.ere is a potential for pets to jump into the water, get the algae over their coat, lick it off, and in instances dogs have died doing that,” Bress said.
Some kinds of blue-green algae produce natural toxins or poisons that can be harmful if swallowed, and skin contact can cause rash or irritation. Children and dogs are especially vulnerable because they are more likely to drink the water.
During the summer of 1999 and 2000 two dogs died after drinking large amounts of water from a toxic blue-green algae bloom in Lake Champlain.
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