Harmful algal blooms caused by nutrient pollution and warming waters poison and suffocate aquatic wildlife, causing mass mortality events across lakes, rivers and coastal areas.
Harmful algal blooms cause acute, severe suffering for the animals they affect. Fish experiencing hypoxia from oxygen depletion surface in distress, gasping for oxygen before dying - a painful death for billions of fish each summer in HAB-affected waters. Marine mammals exposed to domoic acid from toxic algae experience seizures, disorientation and death - stranding events with obvious welfare consequences for individual animals. Dogs swimming in cyanobacteria-affected lakes can die within hours of ingestion, causing acute poisoning with vomiting, seizures and organ failure. The welfare harm is immediate and dramatic. The root cause - agricultural nutrient runoff and climate warming - is addressable through agricultural policy reform and climate action.