Harmful Algal Blooms: Don’t Forget About the West Coast

NATIONWIDE—East Coast Bias – a phrase commonly heard in the sports realm and often used to explain the phenomenon of extra attention given to Atlantic Seaboard or Northeastern issues, often at the expense of equally or more significant issues on the West Coast. Is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, guilty of East Coast Bias in conducting a survey of harmful algal bloom episodes in the Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico regions, but leaving out waterways in Southern California, Washington and other West Coast locations? NOAA’s proposal, issued on Jan. 2, specifically seeks information from three locations east of the Mississippi River concerning waterborne pathogens in three major waterways. Last year’s harmful algal bloom events in Florida, for example, received national attention and even spurred federal legislators in Washington, D.C. to take action. NOAA’s recent proposal and request for information – just as the nation’s longest government shutdown was underway, no less – appears to be a continuation of the action legislators spurred last year. California’s Pacific coast, for some reason, is not included within NOAA’s request – despite scientists at the University of Southern California found harbors between Santa Barbara and San Diego contained the world’s highest...