Officials: Brown tide spreading in LI bays
Photo credit: Doug Kuntz | Brown tide clouding the waters in the eastern end of Moriches Bay. (June 27, 2011)
Southampton bayman Ed Warner Jr. was out netting baitfish last month when he noticed a suspiciously dark tint in the waters of western Shinnecock Bay.
It was an early sign of brown tide, the harmful algae that has plagued Long Island bays since 1985, when it nearly wiped out the local bay scallop population. Besides shellfish, high concentrations of the algae also threaten marine plants.
Over...
