Phytoplankton blooms, micro-algal blooms, toxic algae, red tides, or harmful algae, are all terms for naturally occurring phenomena. About 300 hundred species of micro algae are reported at times to form mass occurrence, so called blooms. Nearly one fourth of these species are known to produce toxins. The scientific community refers to these events with a generic term, "Harmful Algal Bloom" (HAB), recognizing that, because a wide range of organisms is involved and some species have toxic effects at low cell densities, not all HABs are "algal" and not all occur as "bloom".
Proliferations of microalgae in marine or brackish waters can cause massive fish kills, contaminate seafood with toxins, and alter ecosystems in ways that humans perceive as harmful. A broad classification of HABs distinguishes two groups of organisms: the toxin producers, which can contaminate seafood or kill fish, and the high-biomass producers, which can cause anoxia and indiscriminate kills of marine life after reaching dense concentrations.
Our Work on Harmful Algal Blooms
The overall goal of the HAB Programme embraces a range of scientific and managerial challenges: to foster the effective management of, and scientific research on, harmful algal blooms in order to understand their causes, predict their occurrences, and mitigate their effects.
Useful links:
IOC HAB Programme
GlobalHAB