BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. — Hurricane Ian's destructive path caused catastrophic flooding in many areas. And as many work to clean up the pieces left behind, some worry that all of that water mixing together could lead to harmful algal blooms.
To learn more about the possibility ABC Action News went down to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) to talk to Dr. Barry Rosen who studies the bacteria that makes blue-green algae.
From his lab, he told us the possibility of a blue-green bloom is technically there.
"It may or may not be. It's a difficult thing to know exactly what's going to happen, [with] that mix of compounds that flowed in with the hurricane," he said.
That said, he's also not totally convinced it will happen because of the very specific mixture of light and nutrients that need to be in place for a bloom.
He also adds that the season for the type of bacteria that causes blue-green algae blooms is all but over.
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"They should be just about gone by now because they like warm weather," he said.
But what Dr. Rosen said is that some of the leftover bacteria—under the right conditions—could become food for a different but equally harmful bloom: red tide.
A few labs over at FGCU, Dr. Mike Parsons and his team are working hard to set up a post-hurricane analysis of local waters.
He told ABC Action News it's important to note that small red tide blooms happen around this time of year every year.
"It occurs almost like clockwork," Dr. Parsons said.
But hurricanes can make things worse.
"When you looked at Hurricane Irma in 2017, I think that was on September 10, 2017, [the] red tide started blooming a couple [of] weeks later but then it just got bigger, lasted longer and so the question wasn't necessarily 'Did Irma cause red tide?' but 'Did it exacerbate it?'" said Dr. Parsons.
And as they work to track Ian's impact, Dr. Parsons told us while a bigger bloom is possible, pinpointing the cause isn't as clear right now.
"I think it's too soon to say there's a correlation. I think at least it's coincidental though," he said.
