Noxious Seaweed Threatens Ocean Life-7/6/00-*DID YOU KNOW THAT OVER 98% OF THE WORLDS SPECIES LIVE UNDER WATER...?!
.c The Associated Press
By KIMBERLY LAMKE
SAN DIEGO (AP) - An algae that has destroyed habitat in European waters has been discovered near San Diego, the first time it has been confirmed on the west coast of the Americas.
``This algae eliminates kelp beds and poses an extreme danger to flora and fauna in the area,'' said Bob Hoffmann, Southern California environmental coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The algae, Caulerpa taxifolia, ruined more than 10,000 acres of Mediterranean Sea habitat near France, Spain, Monaco and Italy after patches found in the 1980s were not immediately destroyed.
Caulerpa has proven toxic to most sea life, forcing fish to go elsewhere and harming fisheries. Mediterranean scuba diving sites are being smothered by the plant, as are Riviera pleasure ports.
Divers discovered the algae here June 12 while monitoring eel grass for the Cabrillo Power Plant I, which has pledged to restore habitat 20 miles north of San Diego.
For now, the Caulerpa has only been found in Agua Hedionda, with the largest patch measuring 60 feet by 30 feet. It will be destroyed.
The bright green, feather-like algae was commonly sold for use in aquariums until it was banned last year by federal law. Hoffmann believes the algae likely ended up in the sea here after someone emptied the contents of their aquarium into a storm drain or the lagoon.
The plant is native to tropical waters, where it grows in small, isolated patches. To those who have seen what it has done to ecosystems around the world, the Caulerpa is a serious threat.
``Effects on commercial and recreation fishing in the coastal areas would be severe,'' Hoffmann said. ``This is a very fast-growing species.''
The plant was introduced to an aquarium in Stuttgart, Germany, in the 1980s and then to aquariums in Europe, Japan and South Africa. There is speculation that it genetically mutated, perhaps because of exposure to the ultraviolet light used in aquariums.
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