Alberta Health Services released a health advisory last week stating that a blue-green algae bloom has been identified in areas of Stoney Lake, located southeast of St. Paul.
The announcement came on Friday morning, just as many locals were preparing to head out for a weekend of camping.
Anyone near the lake was asked to take precautions and avoid all contact with blue-green algae blooms. The advisory asked people to not swim or wade in any areas where blue-green algae are visible, not feed whole fish or fish trimmings to pets, while also considering limiting human consumption of whole fish and fish trimmings from this lake, as it is known that fish may store toxins in their liver. People can safely consume fish fillets from the lake, it added.
People are asked no to drink or cook with water from the lake while the advisory is in place, as boiling lake water does not remove the toxins produced by blue-green algae.
A list of symptoms may be present if people come in contact with blue-green algae, such as skin irritation, rash, sore throat, sore red eyes, swollen lips, fever, nausea, and vomiting or diarrhea.
Areas of the lake where the bloom is not visible can still be used for recreational purposes, even when the advisory is in place.
Alberta Health Services lists blue-green algae advisories on its website, which can be accessed at www.albertahealthservices.ca or if anyone has concerns regarding blue-green algae, they can contact Health Link 811.
Blue-green algae are naturally occurring, and often become visible when weather conditions are calm, as they were over the weekend. The algae appear “like scum, grass clippings, fuzz or globs on the surface of the water,” says the notice. It can be blue-green, greenish-brown, brown or pinkish, or red and smells musty.
A heat advisory was also in place over the weekend, but was expected to be taken off by noon on Monday. People were cautioned to watch for signs of heat stroke while the temperatures were elevated.
