Blue-green algae is popping up across Greater Sudbury beaches earlier than normal this year.
Beach advisories are in full effect, which is keeping swimmers from diving in.
Dr. Charles Ramcharan, an environmental professor at Laurentian University, says it’s a couple of weeks early to see blue-green algae.
“These blooms happen every year, they happen all over Ontario and our region. I'm used to seeing the bulk of them around end of July, August."
Typically blue-green algae are seen developing in Ramsey Lake over the last few years in the month of July, sometimes a little later in August or September. But it has been seen consistently in the summer and fall months, said Rylan Yade, from the Sudbury and district health unit.
According to this Dr. Charles Ramcharan, there are tell-tale signs that contribute to algae growth.
“It’s humans that bring in the phosphorus into the landscape. We release phosphorus in our industry. We release it through our activities on the ground here. Just living in the landscape, putting fertilizer on our lawns."
A common misconception also seen by this Dr. Charles is that residents who live off Lake Ramsey are primarily responsible for the increase in algae.
"Certainly people who live on the lakes should be more careful than the rest of us but all of us have a role to play. All of us are contributing to what ends up in these watersheds," said Dr. Charles.
The Sudbury and district health unit says, it's best to let algae blooms naturally disappear instead of trying to remove them physically. They say if blooms are removed it will cause the bacteria to deteriorate, which will lead to more toxins being released into the water.
