Mississippi Beaches Have Been Vacant for Two Months As a Toxic Algae Bloom Lurks Offshore

An algal bloom in the Gulf is devastating coastal businesses.

Ship Island Excursions has survived hurricanes, global recessions, a world war, and a host of economic challenges since the ferry company began taking passengers to the barrier islands that dot coastal Mississippi in the 1920s.  But this year a new threat has emerged:  an explosion of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, that has shut down virtually all of Mississippi’s beaches since July 4. 

No one knows when the algae will disappear, and many wonder how many businesses that operate in the region will survive the hit. 

“Beach vendors have been wiped out,” said Louis Skrmetta, operations manager for Ship Island Excursions.  “I’ve never seen something so dramatic.  It’s very similar to the BP oil spill…people are frightened to just walk in the sand.

Scientists have never seen anything like this before in the ocean off’s Mississippi coast ― blue-green algal blooms are normally confined to fresh-water species.  Mississippi officials say the bloom is the result of record flooding this year in the Midwest, which has pushed a deluge of polluted, nitrogen-rich water down the Mississippi River.  It has forced state officials to issue water and health advisories warning people to stay out of the water and to avoid contaminated seafood. 
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Mississippi business and fishery experts say they’ve never seen such a massive algal bloom spread in coastal waters.  Many blame the record ten trillion gallons of Mississippi River water that the Army Corps of Engineers diverted from the flooding New Orleans area.  The Corps opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway twice for a record 123 days, pouring fertilizer and industrial waste-laden river water into Lake Pontchartrain, which drains into the Mississippi Sound. 

State marine officials say the diversion has killed sensitive oyster reefs, wiped out brown shrimp and crab catches, and altered the salinity levels of the entire Mississippi coastal estuarine area.  While salinity levels are finally returning to normal, water health advisories for blue-green algae remain on state beaches. 

Hotels, restaurants and other coastal businesses who depend on summer tourism to get through the year are facing big losses, said Coastal Mississippi, an organization that tracks business development. 

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