Dept. of Health issues advisory for Davis Boat Ramp after finding blue-green algae

The Department of Health is issuing a health advisory for the Davis Boat Ramp after finding blue-green algae in its sampling.

It’s a sight people at the boat ramp say they didn’t want to see — blue-green algae in the water.

You couldn’t really see it as much this afternoon, but Friday morning they said it was bad.

An FGCU Water School professor says the algae tends to sink down to the bottom in the afternoon and comes back up to soak up the sunshine in the morning.

“It’s here. It’s definitely here and it wasn’t here a week ago,” said Chris Berti of Fort Myers.

The algae is a concern for boaters like him. He says he’s noticed the blue-green algae just about every day this week.

So far, he says it’s minimal but it has progressively grown, stirring up memories from a few years ago.

“We did have a serious problem fishing wise, work-wise. There’s a lot of us that work in the water. There’s a lot of us that fish in the water. We’re in the water almost every day. That was really bad. No one wants that, I can assure you that,” he said.

FGCU Water School Professor Dr. Barry Rosen says canals and the boat ramp are some of the best places for blue-green algae because it gets the nutrients and warm water it needs to bloom.

“The river itself has some. The watershed has some. Any of the surrounding land, there’s runoff coming from that and it’s there. It’s dissolved in the water and they can use it,” Rosen said.

Once the nutrients are diminished, the blue-green algae will go too.

Rosen adds the tell-tale sign of a bloom is the fish kills, but he doesn’t think it is at that stage yet.

“It can grow. It can double every day or even faster if conditions are right,” he said.

The Florida Department of Health recommends if you are using the boat ramp to avoid contact with the water. They will continue to monitor the blue-green algae at the boat ramp.