Blue-green algal blooms found in Estero Bay

Reporter: Morgan Rynor
Published: Updated:

Experts confirmed Monday that the green slime discovered in Estero Bay over the weekend is the blue-green algae that has been plaguing canals in Lee County for months.

Neighbors are not happy about it.

Richard Aubin bought his home on Bonita Beach in 1980.

“But this is the lousiest summer I’ve ever spent here in Bonita and I love this place,” he said.

Now, algal blooms are present in the bay.

“What’s different about this one is it like salt water where is the one in Cape Coral does not,” said FGCU Marine Scientist, Michael Parsons.

Unlike Cape Coral, the algae in Estero Bay grows on the bay floor.

“And it was growing so well it had trapped air bubbles and it just floated up to the surface as a mat so that’s what people started noticing,” Parsons said.

He says it is a natural phenomenon, but could be worse due to the rainfall last year during and before Hurricane Irma.

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