By: Katrina Elsken, Okeechobee News
OKEECHOBEE — Algae is everywhere, and that’s a good thing because without it, there would be no life on planet Earth. Algae is the base of the food chain and produces about 75 percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere.
Under certain conditions, algae grows rapidly, forming a bloom.
Algal blooms are not always harmful, explained James M. Sullivan, Ph.D., a research professor with Florida Atlantic University. “Most of the time, algal blooms are not harmful,” he said. Most often, algal blooms are beneficial to the ecosystem.
But under certain conditions, some kinds of algae produce toxins. These are referred to as Harmful Algae Blooms, or HABs…