Red tide Web site

Abstract

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has established the NOAA New England Red Tide Information Center to help people understand the significant red tides that are predicted to form there later this spring. The site (http://www.oceanservice .noaa.gov/redtide) will provide a summary of the current red tide situation and its potential harmful impacts on humans and animals and will serve as a central repository of information. The site also will have direct links to news releases, changes to relevant federal fishing regulations, links to closures of shellfish waters, and links to state agency Web sites with localized information. In addition, the site will have information about NOAA's scientific response effort as well as information from several other sources including NOAA's major response partner, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). On 24 April, WHOI scientists, using forecast models developed with NOAA funding support, predicted “that excess winter precipitation has set the stage for a harmful algal bloom similar to the historic red tide of 2005.”