Sudbury prof pushing for 'better' way to monitor blue-green algae

A professor in Sudbury says there may be a more effective way to track blue-green algae blooms than water testing. 

Greg Ross, a researcher at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, said in a city with more than 300 lakes, aerial tracking is likely more efficient than taking samples from shore, especially since potentially toxic blooms can be relatively small and can move around a lake.

His research team includes Laurentian University and the Living With Lakes Centre. Together they've come up with a sensor system that can detect multiple colours, something the human eye alone can't do.

"Basically, the human eye does a good job of detecting red and green, but it doesn't do a very good job of detecting subtle differences," Ross said. 

"We have sensors that can collect hundreds and hundreds of different channels of wavelengths, so we can take a color that to our eye is green and really dissect that and get a lot more information."

The technology, Ross said, allows researchers to distinguish between a blue-green algal bloom or a field of lily pads from the sky. 

Although there have been no reports of human fatalities from drinking the water, the cloudy, pea soup-like blooms with a "nasty" smell can affect the liver and nervous system, and be lethal to pets, Ross added.

That kind of technology will become increasingly important to use as some lakes in Sudbury become more polluted.

"We have a list of about a dozen lakes that we're doing right now," Ross said. "They include Nepahwin and Ramsey Lake."

Ross said those particular lakes are close to population centres and are used a lot for recreation, two conditions that can affect growth the toxic blooms. Nepahwin, especially, has an increasing amount of phosphates.

The 'critical trigger' for blooms

Ross said his research is done alongside Laurentian University and the Living With Lakes Centre, with the group monitoring pollutants and nutrients that can seep into waterways.

"That's the critical trigger for cyanobacteria blooms," Ross said.  "So while we can get a lot of data flying around overhead, collecting information, what we really need to do is team up with other collaborators like Living With Lakes and Ministry [of Environment, Conservation and Parks] and public health, so we can compare our data."

So far, this summer hasn't been as bad as past years, Ross said. Signs were posted on the Bell Park beach in late July as blooms were detected. The signs may warn beach goers, but there are still others on the lake who could use the information.  

The help push the data out to the general public, Ross said he envisions a digital monitoring service, like a website, that would stay updated in real time as teams monitor the blooms.

"That would be relevant for so many more individuals than just restricted to those using the beach," Ross said.  "It's extremely important that those beach advisories are posted, but we think we've got a better way to monitor a lot more of the water in the Greater Sudbury area."