SoundHAB: ECY - Large red-brown blooms, DOH - Paralytic Shellfish Poison biotoxin found in many areas

[Krembs, Christopher (ECY)]

Tuesday July 31, 3 PM (EOPS flight). High blooming activity in South and Central Sound.

Intense and extensive red-brown blooms in Case Inlet, Budd Inlet, Quartermaster Harbor, Sinclair, East Passage (Vashon Island).
 Many other places with green-olive colored algal blooms.

We will cover the blooms in EOPS scheduled for release this Thursday.


The Marine Waters Monitoring Unit

_____  __
From: Church, Timothy J (DOH)
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 2:27 PM
To: GOV dist Agency Communication Directors
Subject: DOH News Release -- Dangerous levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poison biotoxin found in many areas



[X]
 News Release

For immediate release: July 31, 2012                            (12-104)

Contact:        Julie Graham<mailto:julie.graham at doh.wa.gov>, Communications Office                     360-236-4022

Dangerous levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poison biotoxin found in many areas
Recreational shellfish harvest closures in effect for areas of central and south Puget Sound

OLYMPIA * Shellfish collected from a large area of central and south Puget Sound contain enough Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) biotoxin to make people sick. So, the Washington State Department of Health has closed recreational shellfish harvest in Jefferson, Island, Snohomish, Kitsap, King and Pierce Counties. Commercially harvested shellfish have been thoroughly tested and should be safe to eat.
Warning signs are posted at beaches used by recreational shellfish harvesters to warn people not to collect shellfish from the closed areas. The closures include clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, geoduck, and other species of molluscan shellfish. Crab is not included in the closure, but "crab butter" should not be eaten. The PSP toxin is produced by algae that are often more common during the warmest months of the year.
People can get very sick from eating shellfish contaminated with the toxin. Marine biotoxins are not destroyed by cooking or freezing. Symptoms of PSP can appear within minutes or hours and usually begin with tingling lips and tongue, moving to the hands and feet. This is followed by difficulty breathing, and potentially death. Anyone who has eaten shellfish and begins having these symptoms should get medical help immediately. A person can't tell if PSP is present by looking at the water or shellfish. For this reason, the term "red tide," which is often used for PSP, is misleading and inaccurate. PSP can only be detected by laboratory testing.
Before harvesting shellfish anywhere in Washington, people should check for updated closure information on our Shellfish Safety Website<http://www.doh.wa.gov/shellfishsafety.htm> or call our Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632. The Department of Health website<http://www.doh.wa.gov/Home.aspx> (doh.wa.gov) is your source for a healthy dose of information. Also, find us on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-State-Department-of-Health/117762158270896> and follow us on Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/WA_DeptofHealth>.
###
Tim Church
Dir. of Communications
WA State Dept. of Health
(360) 236-4077, timothy.church at doh.wa.gov<mailto:timothy.church at doh.wa.gov>

For a Healthy Dose of Information: www.doh.wa.gov<http://www.doh.wa.gov/>
Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/soundhab/attachments/20120801/1aa99af0/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Eld Inlet.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3277571 bytes
Desc: Eld Inlet.JPG
Url : http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/soundhab/attachments/20120801/1aa99af0/attachment-0004.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Budd Inlet (2).jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3177685 bytes
Desc: Budd Inlet (2).jpg
Url : http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/soundhab/attachments/20120801/1aa99af0/attachment-0002.jpg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Quartermaster Harbor.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3289797 bytes
Desc: Quartermaster Harbor.jpg
Url : http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/soundhab/attachments/20120801/1aa99af0/attachment-0003.jpg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Case Inlet.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3176708 bytes
Desc: Case Inlet.JPG
Url : http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/soundhab/attachments/20120801/1aa99af0/attachment-0005.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Vashon Island.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2906920 bytes
Desc: Vashon Island.JPG
Url : http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/soundhab/attachments/20120801/1aa99af0/attachment-0006.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Sinclair Inlet.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3255563 bytes
Desc: Sinclair Inlet.JPG
Url : http://mailman.whoi.edu/pipermail/soundhab/attachments/20120801/1aa99af0/attachment-0007.jpeg