High Biomass Bloom of a dinoflagellate (Scrippsiella sp.) in a tropical estuary in northern Bahia State, Northeast Brazil A bloom of Scrippsiella sp. was observed in the Rio Real estuary of Northeast Brazil (Figure 1A; 11o 18 28 S; 37o 16 45 W). According to the KöppenGeiger climate classification [1], the climate of the region is characterized as humid tropical (AfA), with an average annual temperature ranging from 21oC to 31oC with a dry season (SeptemberMarch) and a rainy season (April-August). The locality has a semidiurnal tidal regime with maximum range between high and low tide of 2.1 m [2]. The Rio Real estuary has a total area of 4,968.44 km2, of which 2,567 km2 is drainage area, 458.06 km2 is perimeter and 110.7 km2 corresponds to the main axis. The source area of Rio Real corresponds to 18.6% of its total area and is located within a region with a semi-arid climate. The surrounding vegetation is comprised of predominantly mangroves. Several activities are linked to this environment, such as subsistence fishing and shellfish harvesting, tourism, agriculture, subsistence cropping of various sorts and shrimp farming. The sediments found in the environment come from the Lagarto formation, Grupo Estância, and are composed of fine sandstones, clay, shales and silt. Phytoplankton were sampled at eight stations along the estuary (Fig- ure 1), following the salinity gradient, during four field campaigns two in the dry season, January 2014 (22 mm of rain) and 2015 (10.1 mm), and two in the rainy season, July 2013 (241 mm) and 2014 (211.4 mm). Qualitative sampling was performed with subsurface horizontal hauls using a mesh of 30 μm pore diameter and the samples preserved with Transeau solution. Quantitative sampling was performed with a Van Dorn bottle and the samples preserved with 4% Lugols iodine solution. Water samples were also collected and stored in one-liter plastic bottles refrigerated at 4o C for subsequent nutrient analysis: total phosphorus (TP), orthophosphate (PO4+), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-), silicate (SiO2) and chlorophyll a (Chl-a). Temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen (DO) were measured in situ with the aid of a HORIBA multiparameter probe. Cell counts were made using an Olympus CKX41 inverted microscope, with 400x magnification, according to [3]. The results are expressed as absolute density (cells L-1). Mean salinity for the four campaigns ranged from 3.6 (Station A8, upstream) to 27.8 (Station A1, downstream). Stations A1 to A3 were polyhaline, stations A4 to A6 were mesohaline, and stations A7 and A8 were oligohaline [4]. The estuary can be divided into three regions based on the ecology of the phytoplankton species collected: the lower estuary, represented by sampling stations A1, A2 and A3, is characterized by a greater abundance of marine, oceanic and neritic species; the middle estuary, comprising sampling stations A4 and A5, is characterized by a greater abundances of brackish species typically from estuarine environments; and the upper estuary, comprising stations A6, A7 and A8, is characterized by typically freshwater species. The bloom of Scrippsiella sp. (mean = 9.2 x 106 cells L-1), which occurred in July 2014, was located in the lower and middle estuary regions from station A2 to A5 (Figure 1.A); these regions are close to urban concentrations and shrimp farms, which may have favored cell growth due to the input of nutrients with the greater continental runoff in the rainy season. Stations A1 and A6 to A8, did not have significant concentrations of Scrippsiella sp. The high concentrations observed resulted in low phytoplankton diversity compared to the other periods sampled. Acknowledgements Loreane D. Alves was supported by the PIBIC-IC-UFBA scholarship. Thanks to Dr Angelica Yohana Cardozo Vargas for her guidance in phytoplankton identification. References 1. Peel MC et al 2007. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 4(2), 11: 1633-1644 doi: 10.5194/hess11-1633-2007 2. FEMAR 2000. Catálogo de Estações Maregráficas Brasileiras (Fundação Estudos do Mar) https://www.fundacaofemar. org.br/biblioteca/emb/tabelas. Access on 16 July 2017 3. Utermöhl H 1958. Mitteilung Internationale Vereinigung für Theoretische Angewandte Limnologie 9: 68- 72 4. Bulger AJ et al 1993. Estuaries 16 (2): 311-322 Authors Loreane Dias Alves & Doriedson Ferreira Gomes, Laboratory of Taxonomy, Ecology and Paleoecology of Aquatic Environments (ECOPALEO), Biology Institute, Federal University of Bahia (IBIO-UFBA), Rua Barão de Jeremoabo s/n Campus Universitário de Ondina, Salvador, BA, Brasil. CEP: 41170-115. Fig. 1. (A) Location of the study area, NE Brazil, with sampling stations along the Rio Real estuary, showing overall (yellow to red color pattern) and Scrippsiella sp. (circle diameter) cells density (cells L-1). (B) Image (400x) of specimen of Scrippsiella sp. 14 Email corresponding author: loreanealves.pejba@gmail.com HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 70 / 20221 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 70 - July 2022 https://hab.ioc-unesco.org/ Mar Menor lagoon: an iconic case of ecosystem collapse Content Featured articles Mar Menor lagoon: an iconic case of ecosystem collapse, Juan M Ruiz, Jaime BernardeauEsteller, M Dolo nodosa present in Mar Menor at least in the last decades. Caulerpa contains high levels of toxigenic secondary metabolites and contributes loads of labile organic matter to the sediments. Decomposition of this organic matter fuels anoxic processes and increased levels of reduced carbon, nitrogen and age basin and is a major source of European winter vegetable production. But the transferred water resources, clearly insufficient to sustain such production, had to be complemented with aquifers that had suffered previous overexploitation and became brackish. These brackish aquifers needed treating Fig. 3. Satellite image (Sentinel 2) after torrential rainfall in September 12th and 13th in the Mar Menor watershed. Tons of terrigenous sediments, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous are dragged by water runoff from agricultural lands into the Mar Menor lagoon (downloaded from https://www. copernicus provided by President and Staff of the harbours Club Nautico Lo Pagán, Club Náutico La Puntica and Centro de Actividades Náuticas (San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain). References 1. Ruiz JM et al 2020. Informe de asesoramiento técnico del IEO, 165pp 2. Belando MB et al 2019. Front. Mar. Sci. Conf The Mar Menor Oyster Initiative, a strategy to prevent algal blooms in a eutrophic lagoon in Spain Fig. 1. Map of study in Mar Menor, Murcia, SE Spain Marine ecosystems are exposed to a wide range of pressures including water quality degradation, habitat decline, overfishing and climate change, in flats, located in the south basin of the lagoon. The rationale of this project is to involve all interested stakeholders for successful large-scale restoration programs, which need public and political support, research, and outreach actions [13]. Acknowledgements Project RemediOS is developed with Multi-specific Harmful Algal Bloom in a Chilean Fjord: A dangerous phytoplankton cocktail Fig. 1. Maps of study area showing: left, NW Patagonian fjords; right, Quitralco Fjord Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in Southern Chile (Patagonian fjords) have followed the global trend of increasing reports an Fig. 3. Vertical distribution of A) temperature (blue line), salinity (red line) and chlorophyll a (green line); B) Pseudo-nitzschia spp; C) A. catenella; D) D. acuminata; E) P. reticulatum at a sampling station close to the head of Quitralco Fjord on February 22, 2022 reticulatum (18.3 x 103 cells Red Tide Adaptation and Response Network (REARMAR): bridging local, scientific and policy knowledge for smallscale benthic fisheries in the northern Chilean Patagonia Fig. 1. Expansion of Alexandrium catenella-related PSP outbreaks recorded in the last four decades in Chilean Patagonia. Dashed line l l fishermen leaders and fishery and health authorities were considered inappropriate. Several coordination problems arose when an authorized 6,000 loco landing could not be placed on the market because results of laboratory tests detecting toxins slightly above the regulatory limit (80 ug STX eq An unprecedented harmful algae bloom in the beaches of Rio, Brazil Fig. 1. Images acquired by Sentinel-3s Ocean and Land Colour Instrument OLCI, on A) November 16th, 2021; B) December 5th, 2021. The dark water patch indicates the algal bloom. Source: Priscila Kienteca Lange, UFRJ An extensive and Tetraselmis). We speculate that these calm inlets could have possibly been the source of the massive offshore bloom, but further image and data analysis needs to be conducted. The coast of Rio de Janeiro state is subject to coastal upwelling of the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW water mass) at A High Biomass Bloom of a dinoflagellate (Scrippsiella sp.) in a tropical estuary in northern Bahia State, Northeast Brazil A bloom of Scrippsiella sp. was observed in the Rio Real estuary of Northeast Brazil (Figure 1A; 11o 18 28 S; 37o 16 45 W). According to the KöppenGeiger climate classification [ Limnoraphis robusta bloom in Hanabanilla reservoir, central-southern Cuba Fig. 1. Map showing the areas where the Limnoraphis robusta bloom occurred in Hanabanilla reservoir. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater ecosystems can form major water discolorations, threaten ecosystem functioning from Hanabanilla was mainly in early vegetative stage. In contrast, some morphological characters which are indicators of later growth stage such as red-brownish trichomes and hormogonia were present in high abundance in a previous L. robusta bloom from Hanabanilla reservoir [5]. L. robusta occurred MixONET, a new SCOR Working Group # 165 on Mixotrophy in the Ocean Traditional and contemporary methods in Biological Oceanography assume a false plant/animal dichotomy for plankton. This dichotomy has been the bedrock of marine science, operationally separating organisms into phototrophic or phagot Maldonado (Canada), Mengmeng Tong (China), Michaela Larsson (Australia), Patricio Diaz (Chile), Robinson Mugo (Kenya), Tina Šilović (France). The first meeting of the working group was held in silico (February 2022) with the second hybrid meeting scheduled to be held in Baiona (Galicia, Spain) in Ju GlobalHAB/EuroMarine Workshop on Modelling and Prediction of Harmful Algal Blooms The typical harmful algal bloom is a regional- or local-scale phenomenon, a perfect storm of environmental conditions, ocean transport and mixing patterns, and microbial ecology. Because of this complexity, prediction Meeting of the GlobalHAB Scientific Steering Committee, Glasgow, Scotland, May 2022 On May 14th -15th, 2022, the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of the IOCSCOR programme, GlobalHAB, celebrated its first hybrid meeting in Glasgow, UK, following virtual meetings throughout the Covid19 pandemic. Th The international community is invited to participate in the GlobalHAB programme, through seeking endorsement of relevant research, monitoring, and modelling activities GlobalHAB APPLICATION FORM FOR ENDORSEMENT OF ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS To be completed in English and emailed to the Chair of the G Is the activity part of, coordinated with, or af4iliated with, other international/regional programs? Yes: ___ No. ____ If yes, give program title: 8. FUNDING Has funding been obtained? Yes: No: (Prospective) source(s): 9. CONTRIBUTION TO UN DECADE OF OCEAN SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 203 Microbial life cycles Microbial life cycles in a changing ocean in a changing ocean Contributions that address the following topics are welcome: Contributions that address the following topics are welcome: Diversity of microbial life cycles in different habitats and environments Diversity of micr