Expert not surprised to see warning about blue-green algae presence near N.S. lake

Blue-green algae detected near popular N.S. beach Warnings about blue-green algae between Grand Lake and Fish Lake came out this weekend, but some say it's too early to worry for the summer.

Blue-green algae has been spotted in a stream between Nova Scotia's Grand Lake and Fish Lake, near a popular swimming area.

The province issued a warning about the algae's presence in a news release on Saturday.

Elizabeth Kennedy is the director of the water branch for Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change. She says, although it’s early for a bloom, she's not surprised.

“We do know that the water has been warm and we’ve had a lot of warm weather, and when we have a big rain event, then we do have the potential for blooms,” says Kennedy.

“We saw that it was a mat, which is a blue-green algae bloom that is on the bottom of the lake or on the bottom of the river and it forms a mat. In terms of significance, those are where we have seen, in the past, the strongest concentrations of the chemicals that we’re concerned about,” Kennedy adds.

Ashley Anderson lives in the area and heads to the beach at Grand Lake often.

She says she isn't worried about the most recent blue-green algae warning due to it being so early in the season.

“I am not so much concerned right now. I’d say in about a month's time when there’s more people swimming,” says Anderson.

Despite the early presence of blue-green algae, Kennedy says it’s not necessarily an indication that this will be a bad summer for potentially harmful algae blooms.