Observation Dates: Thru 8/29/2021
% Zones Monitored: 75%
Suspicious Blooms:  2
Confirmed Blooms:  5

Seneca Lake saw its first confirmed blooms of the season this last week. Thursday and Friday kicked it off with 3 confirmed blooms (plus one suspicious bloom) in the Northeast, near Sampson Marina. After a northerly wind on Friday, Saturday saw two confirmed blooms (plus one suspicious bloom) in the southern end.

When we say something is confirmed, it means we have evidence that convinces us that what the volunteer saw was, in fact, a bloom. Sometimes we do not get a photo, so we cannot make an independent assessment. Other times, the photographic evidence is not conclusive or the amount of cyanobacteria does not appear to be enough to meet the DEC bloom criteria. The cyanobacteria can be visible before it is dense enough to be considered a “bloom”.

In past years, the first week of September usually had a sudden spike in blooms. Given many people will want to be in the water for Labor Day weekend, extra care should be taken to “look before your leap.” If in doubt, do not go in the area where there are visible blooms.

From the rains, we have seen a lot of debris and weeds in the lake. Duckweed has been something that is being mistaken for a HAB, possibly because it floats on the water and takes the form of “dots”. As a reminder, cyanobacteria blooms do not have mass—duckweed does.

If you take a stick and dip it in a HAB, it will break up. Duckweed will move around, but the dots will stay intact. Do not put a bare hand into a suspect area.

Check the Pure Waters HAB website (www.senecalake.org/Blooms) for the latest information.