They have become sad summer rites in local waters that feed the Chesapeake Bay: algae blooms, also known as red tides or brown tides. And once again, they have arrived to stain creeks and rivers, frighten swimmers and threaten fish and oyster stocks.
On Friday, the blooms thrived in patches across much of the Lafayette River in Norfolk – great swaths of mahogany and brick-red streaks, looking like someone either spilled oil or dropped a huge load of paint overboard.
And then, suddenly, the unhealthy coloring stopped and the water again turned its normal shade of light green – healthy and sick, side by side, even touching.
From a boat piloted by Chris Moore, a scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Lafayette almost seemed its normal self on an August afternoon, with people out fishing, sailing and tending to their riverfront yards.
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