IRELAND - Seawater samples submitted to Marine Institute in the past few weeks have shown the presence of a species of Phytoplankton that can harm marine animals, and some mortality have been reported among oysters, cockles and lugworms from the Mayo to Donegal coastal regions.

Analysis carried out at the Marine Institute phytoplankton lab has indicated that there is an ongoing bloom in the area of Karenia mikimotoi which is a phytoplankton of the dinoflagellate group that produces dense blooms and often results in similar mortality of marine organisms.

The bloom is most likely to originate offshore and several previous occurrences of this species have been recorded in Ireland over the years, most significantly the bloom in 2005 which extended all along the we ... Read more »