What’s that red stuff in Gastineau Channel?

State officials say algae is making part of Gastineau Channel red and murky.

Dave Pikul, who works in spill response for the region with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, checked it out last Friday.

“We got a call about some brown streaking in the water, in the channel,” Pikul said. “You know, we thought it was — it looked like red tide. It was definitely some kind of algal bloom that turned out to be someone saying it was phytoplankton.”

Alaska Department of Fish and Game regional habitat supervisor Jackie Timothy said in her 25-year career, she’s never seen it become a wider issue for fish habitat here.

“I have not ever seen eutrophication or a bloom in any of the water bodies where we’re worried about fish here,” Timothy said. “I’ve seen a bloom once in an area that didn’t have fish, but I’m not worried about anything right now.”

So for now, it’s just an oddity.

Jeremy Hsieh

Local News Reporter, KTOO

I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications