Don't worry about 'unsightly,' smelly green stuff on Cherry Beach, clean water advocate says
CBC
Large amounts of "unsightly" and smelly vegetation has been washing up on Toronto's Cherry Beach shoreline recently, but the director of water programs at Swim Drink Fish Canada says there's no need for alarm.
Gregary Ford says the mixture of "submerged aquatic vegetation and a form of algae" is harmless to humans and animals.
"We get photos like this all the time; people are often concerned when they see something green washing up on their shorelines," Ford told CBC Toronto.
"[It's] a mixture of … things like coontail, but also a form of filamentous algae that we think is probably cladophora algae."
Unlike the blue-green algae that is a cause for major concern in areas such as the western basin of Lake Erie or in the Hamilton Harbour area — because it produces a toxin that is a problem for humans and animals — Ford said there's less concern with cladophora algae.
"Cladophora … is just known as a nuisance. It takes a variety of different forms, but typically it washes on shore when it gets to excessive levels due to ... excess nutrients in our waterways," Ford said.
He said "it's unsightly" with a not-so-great odour and just "doesn't look great."
"Some municipalities even close their beaches due to the presence of it, but generally it's just a nuisance," Ford said.
Abbas Khoshmehri was out for a walk on the beach with his dog on Thursday but said he kept clear of the water.
"It's very bad. I can't take my dog inside the water, that's why I'm just walking here," he said.
"The water looks green, I don't know why," he said, adding he doesn't want his dog going in the water.
"It smells very bad," he said.
Another beachgoer, Carmen Mak, said the green vegetation washes up every summer.
"Honestly, we avoid it just for the sake of being careful with the dogs," she said.
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