A Change of Guard

សូមស្តាប់វិទ្យុសង្គ្រោះជាតិ Please read more Khmer news and listen to CNRP Radio at National Rescue Party. សូមស្តាប់វីទ្យុខ្មែរប៉ុស្តិ៍/Khmer Post Radio.
Follow Khmerization on Facebook/តាមដានខ្មែរូបនីយកម្មតាម Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khmerization.khmerican

Monday 23 May 2016

Kep algal bloom not toxic, ministry finds


An algal bloom off the Kep coast that emerged in early April, which preliminary tests have found to have been non-toxic. Photo supplied
An algal bloom off the Kep coast that emerged in early April, which preliminary tests have found to have been non-toxic. Photo supplied

Kep algal bloom not toxic, ministry finds
Mon, 23 May 2016 ppp
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon


Preliminary test results have found a massive algal bloom in Kep Bay in early April did not produce harmful toxins, although the Ministry of the Environment plans to follow up with additional research into possible causes.

According to a ministry press release on Friday, the bloom was a “red tide” – a phenomenon that can potentially involve a species of plankton that releases substances toxic to humans, but in this case did not. The document identifies rising temperatures due to climate change as the cause.

The ministry’s general director of environmental protection, Heng Nareth, yesterday said the ministry measured record-breaking water temperatures at the time of the bloom, which he said was the first such event he had seen in the Kingdom’s salt waters.

“We measured 33 degrees centigrade, which made the sea grass die,” he said.


The dead grass, combined with high nutrient content in the water, fed the bloom, which consumed oxygen in the water and led to the death of marine life.

Nareth said the ministry will test rainwater run-off during the rainy season to identify additional causes.

Kan Ponhrith, from marine resource management NGO CORIN Asia, yesterday pointed to several potential causes not yet acknowledged by the ministry, including water released from fish farms, untreated sewage and destructive illegal fishing practices.

No comments: