Papers Today

// Clonakilty Bay algal mats

Horizons: Tangled up in green
The proliferation of dense algae blooms on lakes and estuaries is causing great concern to many environmental groups. Lesley Jane Lewis from University College Cork highlights the problem of algal mats in Clonakilty Bay in west Cork in the current issue of Wings magazine.

By reducing the oxygen concentration of the estuary bed and surrounding waters, the algal mats kill off many animals that wintering populations of waders and wildfowl species feed on. Proposals to develop the bay (a tidal barrage, a new golf course on Island Strand Intake, etc) will further diminish habitats for such species, according to Lewis. All this in spite of the fact that Clonakilty Bay is a proposed Special Protection Area for birds and a candidate for a Special Area of Conservation. Sylvia Thompson © The Irish Times