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| Photo: Times Kuwait |
The
Environment Public Authority is monitoring status of the recently-formed red
tide spots off the Kuwaiti coast, EPA said on Monday.
Mohammad
Al-Enezi, EPA's acting director general, told KUNA the authority has been
following up on this renewed phenomenon since last Saturday, when the Public
Authority for Agriculture and Fish Resources, filed reports confirming location
of red spots floating at various locations in the territorial sea waters.
Special
teams have scooped up some samples for analysis, he said, affirming capacity to
"cope with such emergency situations."
The red tide
is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom (large concentrations
of aquatic microorganisms) when it is caused by a few species of
dinoflagellates and the bloom takes on a red or brown color.
Red tides
are events in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly
in the water column, resulting in coloration of the surface water. It is
usually found in coastal areas.
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(Where there is pollution...)
Why do these algae accumulate? Pollution like sewage, runoff, and
chemicals. Fracking. Dumping, etc. Then what happens? The algae grows. There is less oxygen in the water. The fish die. We have a stinky, nasty mess on the beaches and no one goes fishin. Don't eat that! Sushi? Hmmmmm.... and
Beople! Know what you're swimming in, please.
In 2001, tonnes of fish washed up in the Bay of Kuwait. It was NAS-teh. I lived in Salmiya and couldn't open my windows for months - and the stench INSIDE my apartment with the AC on was unbearable also. The whole seaside smelled like rotting fish for months. It was the same deal. I wrote several documentary scripts for KTV during that time on the fish kill (transcripts were posted on Hilalya's blog HERE if you are interested).
I hope we're not in for more disgustingness soon. I can't even get out to camp in the desert. Where to go?
Its such a shame at the state of Kuwaits affairs. Pollution and no one even cares. It used to be just the area next to Al Hamra that smells like rotten eggs, now most of Kuwait City stinks, and even other areas of Kuwait smell really horrible.
ReplyDeleteI think most people have grown disillusioned with our mismanaged government. I bet you the only reason that they are discussing this issue is because someone big wants to get some kind of tender to "clean" the ocean.
If they really cared about the environment then we would have recycling companies at different levels, for homes for offices etc. It doesn't seem so lucrative to them, so lets just dump it all in a big landfill and to hell with everyone right?
that's so right, people should know what things are lurking in the water that they are swimming in. long ago, I watched a movie about this little girl who died because she'd drank polluted river water. I've sense forgotten the name of the movie, but that scene stands out in my mind.
ReplyDeleteHi desert girl, I was reading one of your older posts about salsa in Kuwait. I'm here for the weekend with work and was wondering is there anywhere to dance tonight, tomorrow?
ReplyDelete