Happy Fourth of July! And what a positive weather forecast we have for the long weekend ahead of us. This week we are seeing a decline in the number of Chaetoceros sp. in the samples although Chaetoceros sp. remain the most dominant phytoplankton in many areas. This is a common occurrence as we enter July, and as always we are curious to see which species dominate in the weeks ahead.
You may also notice the that many of our samples have species of concern, Dinophysis, Pseudo-nitzschia, or Alexandrium, “present”. Present means we saw at least one cell of a species of concern in the sample. We keep close track of the species of concern and will include additional information in our updates should we observe concentrations of a species of concern that reach abundant or bloom levels.
For more information on this Phytoplankton Update and the Qualitative Analysis of Phytoplankton Data, click here.