Blue-green algae pops up at Seneca Lake
Seneca has become the first of the large Finger Lakes with a confirmed outbreak of blue-green algae this summer.
The Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association reported Thursday that small blooms of cyanobacteria, often called blue-green algae, had been found in one spot on the west side of the lake and one on the east.
Experts from Hobart and William Smith Colleges' Finger Lakes Institute and the State College of Environmental Science and Forestry sampled the water and confirmed the presence of algal toxin, the association said.
Toxins released by some types of cyanobacteria can cause skin irritation, respiratory problems, stomach upset and more severe symptoms.
The group urged residents and others to avoid the water near the known blooms and to be alert for water with an unusual appearance; such as that of pea soup or spilled paint. Dogs and other pets should be kept away from the water in those locations as well.
Blooms were identified at Perry Point near Dresden, Yates County and north of Glen Eldridge Point In Hector, Schuyler County.
Cyanobacteria bloomed in Seneca Lake last summer, as well as in Canandaigua and Cayuga lakes — an unusual circumstance, as the larger of New York's 11 Finger Lakes had rarely reported algal blooms.
Canandaigua Lake plagued by blue-green algae
Canandaigua has been free of cyanobacteria this summer, though the state Department of Environmental Conservation's harmful algal blooms notification website recorded a visual sighting of an algae-like condition on Cayuga Lake in mid-August.
Several smaller Finger Lakes where blooms are not uncommon — Owasco, Honeoye and Conesus — have reported cyanobacteria this summer.
► D&C video explains Conesus blooms
Algal blooms also were reported in Buck and Cranberry ponds in Monroe County in early August.