Algae found floating in Cape Coral canals

Green chunks are floating in Cape Coral canals and a water expert is describing them as nutrient-rich waters.

A WINK News viewer took pictures of the green algae along 21st Street in Cape Coral. You can see the clear water with pockets of green algae. Neighbors like Lin Miller are calling the sight disgusting.

“It looks like carpeting, it’s so thick,” Miller said.

Miller could see it from their home just two weeks ago. Half of the canal was covered in green algae. It is beginning to separate now, seeing and smelling it forces residents to stay inside.

“When you sit outside you have people come over and you look at this and they’re like wow I mean great view,” Miller said.

Rhonda Erol also lives in Cape Coral. “You don’t feel like even sitting out there enjoying your water. Because all you see is this algae,” Erol said.

John Cassani is the Calusa Waterkeeper and says there were multiple factors leading to the green algae. These include rain, water movement and warm water temperature. But the dominant force is runoff.

“It’s a sign of nutrient enrichment. To see it proliferate to that degree means too much fertilizers in the water,” Cassani said.

A problem that comes along with this algae is the potential to kill fish. Erol is fearing the worst. “I don’t even see the fish are jumping anymore,” said Erol.

“I can’t explain the feeling when you live on the water and you see this it’s depressing,” Miller said.

That disgust has turned to frustration. WINK News asked the Calusa Waterkeeper when those neighbors would get some relief. He says there’s not a clear timetable. It all depends on when the algae begins drawing oxygen from the water.