China's blooming algae problem that's swamping the Olympics

13 April 2012

There must be something in the water. From a distance it looks like a magnificent golfing fairway. But get a little closer and it becomes clear that this rolling green carpet is not your average sporting venue.

In fact, this extraordinary picture shows the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao, East China. It is due to play host to the cream of the international sailing community in little over a month's time. And currently one third of it - 20 square miles - is covered in vivid green algae.

Nicknamed 'The Blob', this vast algal bloom is hampering the British Olympic team's training - their boat repeatedly becoming stuck in the quagmire. With the texture of wet hair and starting to smell like a strongly fishy soup, it is no wonder that the Chinese authorities are desperately trying to get rid of it.

Volunteers clear algae along the coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province, July 3, 2008 - more than 10,000 people and 1,200 vessels are involved in the clean-up

Volunteers clear algae along the coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province, July 3, 2008 - more than 10,000 people and 1,200 vessels are involved in the clean-up

The main picture above shows some of the 10,000 volunteers who are working  around the clock to shift the slime, which first appeared back in May. Bulldozers and dump trucks have been commandeered. Some 1,200 local fishermen are busy hauling the waterlogged weeds into their boats and carrying them in huge piles to shore, where they are being transported away in plastic sacks or sucked up by huge pumping systems. Hundreds of soldiers have been brought in to dredge the water with their bare hands.

Working together, they have already managed to clear more than 170,000 tonnes and Chinese officials are predicting that the clean-up will take another two weeks.

But, worryingly, there are whispers that the algae is beginning to creep back into those areas that have already been weeded.

Blooming odd: A Chinese swimmer helps to remove the blue green algae invading the coast of Qingdao

Blooming odd: A Chinese swimmer helps to remove the blue green algae invading the coast of Qingdao

All this has, once again, pushed China's environmental problems into the spotlight.

While officials are blaming a new exotic type of algae blown in on warmer seas, scientists are looking to pollution as the most likely cause.

High levels of nutrients in the water can cause algae to bloom at alarming rates. Tom Wang, an expert on water pollution in Beijing, has concluded that: 'These algae blooms are due to farmers using too much fertiliser and cities failing to treat their sewage.'

None of which seems to have deterred some locals from swimming in the stuff - dragging strands of it out of the sea as they emerge. Despite its horror movie looks, the algae bloom is not, in itself, harmful. Quite the opposite - by absorbing carbon dioxide, it actually helps to clean the water beneath. And if you really took a fancy to it, the algae would be perfectly safe to eat.

Athletes call it the blob, the carpet, the fairway, the serious problem.

"We almost think of it as land," said Carrie Howe, a member of the U.S. team and her three-person squad's unofficial algae remover. During practice, she dips her hand into the goo three or four times an hour to remove it from the rudder.

When it collects shaggily on the boat's tow rope, she and her teammates refer to it as "the dog." They've named it Hickory.

"We all need to pitch in," said Gao Shaofan, a young massage parlor employee who was stuffing the algae into plastic sacks with her co-workers. "This is the worst it's ever been that we know."

Chinese officials promised at a news conference Wednesday that the Olympics competition area, all 19.3 square miles of it, will be clear of the algae before races begin August 9.

Green tide: Soldiers and local residents clean the large area interomorpha prolifera in the sea in Qingdao

Green tide: Soldiers and local residents clean the large area interomorpha prolifera in the sea in Qingdao

Clogged up: The city's coastline has been coated with an algae bloom since late May

Clogged up: The city's coastline has been coated with an algae bloom since late May

"Actually, we don't have a backup," Qu Chun, the sailing competition manager, said to a small collection of groans from coaches.

The sailing teams had already known Qingdao, a charming port on China's east coast known for its Tsingtao beer, would be a difficult venue. The lower-than-ideal winds. The stronger-than-ideal current. The soupy fog that sometimes keeps teams off the water.

Then came the algae, which one Chinese official at the news conference, Lu Zhenyu, called a "natural disaster."

First detected in May, it recently swelled to stretches of up to a few miles long.

Clean-up operation: More than 10,000 people have been mobilised to clean up green algae which has invaded the host city for sailing events

Clean-up operation: More than 10,000 people have been mobilised to clean up green algae which has invaded the host city for sailing events

Help is at hand: Chinese swimmers at a beach helps to remove the blue green algae invading Qingdao

Help is at hand: Chinese swimmers at a beach helps to remove the blue green algae invading Qingdao

Some patches of the algae were beginning to stink, some sailors said.

The 30 or so Olympic teams already training at Qingdao are preparing for the possibility that the algae won't be gone before the Games. "Everyone's a bit skeptical about how they will get it done," Howe said.

Chinese officials have appealed to Qingdao's civic pride - and fishermen's wallets - to fight the algae bloom as quickly as possible, with the goal of clearing the competition zone by July 15.

Already, 170 tons have been cleared away, said Zang Aimin, an executive board member of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

"As far as protecting the competition area, I'm confident we can do it," she said, adding that Navy dredging boats were on the way.

Gojnich was impressed by the response of Chinese fishing boats. "It's like being surrounded by the Spanish Armada," she said. But some athletes and coaches say the algae seems to keep coming back.

Dig for victory: Algae is cleared away along the coastline

Dig for victory: Algae is cleared away along the coastline

Military operation: Soldiers clear away algae along the coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province

Military operation: Soldiers clear away algae along the coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province

Chinese officials promise a system of nets to hold the roaming algae back from the Olympics sailing area, as well as daily briefings on the cleanup effort. They also hope winds from the north will blow the algae away, and soon.

Eager to show off their efforts, officials took journalists on a barge Wednesday afternoon to watch a massive pumping system suck up gallons of Qingdao's bright green headache, plowing through the tide like a vacuum cleaner.

"This has nothing to do with bad luck," said Wang Zhijun, head of Qingdao's harbor administration office, as he watched the pump, smiling for the cameras. "This is just nature."

Back on shore, a group of Chinese swimmers, most of them retirees, jumped into the harbor and ignored the bits of algae that clung to their naked backs.

"Well, it's not poison," said Zhong Pihua, teasing. "Come on in."

Water problem: Chinese fishermen in their boats pitch in to help clean up the coast

Water problem: Chinese fishermen in their boats pitch in to help clean up the coast

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