Champions of Waquoit Bay Show Up in Force to Discuss Algal Mats | Falmouth Enterprise

MBL environmental scientists, including Ken Foreman, are leaders in understanding and developing solutions to nitrogen pollution in Waquoit Bay and elsewhere.

Every seat in the room at Town Hall where the Water Quality Management Committee was meeting Wednesday, June 25, was filled with people who wanted to take part in a discussion about the benthic algal mats floating to the surface of Waquoit Bay, and what can be done to improve the health of the bay.

Research coordinator Megan Tyrrell and research associate Theo Collins from the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve gave a presentation explaining the situation.

Tyrrell cited research papers on the algal mats from that past 50 years.

“We can’t claim ignorance,” she said.

She suggested that the time has come for the town to intervene. She said the biggest contributor of harmful pollutants is septic systems. Read rest of story here.