Cape Coral sees blue-green algae pop up in multiple canals

Blue-green algae have once again been found in Cape Coral canals.

Connie Rokicak spotted some blue-green algae specks floating in the water behind her home, and she was not happy.

“I’m actually surprised it’s here this early,” Rokicak said.

She says the only time she sees algae is when it gets really bad, as it did during the water crisis in 2018.

“That was really bad; I was even walking down Beach Street the last time it was here, and even then, when you were like a block off the canals you could still smell it,” Rokicak said.

There is no smell yet and this is not the only canal experiencing this, according to John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper.

“The nutrient conditions are so high everywhere that it’s not limiting. There’s really no situation where the nutrients are insufficient to create an algae blooms. So it’s just a matter of those other factors coming into play; you know, less water movement, less wind action, less tidal action that allows it to become very evident at the surface,” Cassani said.

Cassani says these blooms are happening more and more. There are algae in five separate canals in Southeast Cape Coral.

“I think this is the new normal early-summer flush-rains bringing in most of the nutrients. I think we are going to continue seeing this as an annual event pretty much,” Cassani said.

If you do smell those toxins, Cassani recommends staying inside and changing your air conditioning filters often.