Blue mussels collected on 6/15/2023, were way above the FDA limit for safe consumption of 80 μg/100g.

High levels of PSP toxins have been found in razor clams in Chignik Lagoon and blue mussels in Sand Point, Alaska, making them unsafe to eat and potentially causing paralytic shellfish poisoning, with no known cure.

The Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research program found that all shellfish species in Settler's Cove and Seaport Beach in Ketchikan and Starrigavan North beach in Sitka are affected by high levels of Paralytic Shellfish Toxin, posing the risk of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning for consumers.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Council is taking tests and awaiting results from a likely algal bloom spreading across the sea off the Hawke's Bay coast. Coastwatchers say the reddish-brown discolouration has been growing over several weeks – visitors to the Bluff Hill lookout reported what may have been its early signs on January 31, when it appeared to be coming from a ship apparently circling at sea off the Port of Napier.

Two dead whales have washed up on Unalaska's shores in the past week: an adult fin whale — which is the second largest mammal in the world — and a juvenile humpback.

A person has died from paralytic shellfish poisoning after eating blue mussels and snails in the Aleutian Island community of Unalaska, state health officials confirmed Wednesday.

"It's been sitting up on the beach just putting his head up towards the sky and not making a sound."

Is there something that would cause fingers to tingle or swell after touching the mussels and clams?

This region in the Bering Sea began to change color in early July, during roughly the same period when dead shearwaters began being reported by LEO members in coastal communities. Ocean experts suspect it's a non-toxic coccolithophore bloom. Interestingly, these kinds of blooms have occurred before in conjunction with shearwater die-offs. But this may be circumstantial.

The state's Department of Environmental Services and Fish and Game announced effective Friday, Aug. 9 the ban on harvest of shellfish due to “red tide” is lifted for all species of shellfish except surf clams.The harvest closure went into effect May 9 for the Atlantic Ocean and Hampton/Seabrook Harbor in response to elevated levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, commonly known as red tide, detected in blue mussels collected from Hampton/Seabrook

Every year since 2015, the Bering Sea has melted out earlier than in every year before 2015. If heat is killing animals, scientists have yet to pin down exactly how it is doing so.

The Department of Health and Social Services reports a person experienced PSP symptoms after eating a clam harvested near Perryville on the Alaska Peninsula.

Discolored marine waters near Haines may be reflective of the extremely high level of algae in southeast waters this month.

Hundreds of dead sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) found along the shores of White Sands Beach.

In Southeast Alaska this summer, researchers have seen extremely high levels of harmful toxins in mussels and clams plucked from beaches.

A range of wildlife-related events have been occurring this month in Shishmaref and other parts of Norton Sound.

Historically, pollock are not a commonly observed species in Bristol Bay, but sightings are becoming more common.

The threshold for closure is set at 80 parts per million, but concentration in those areas were found to be as high as 1,300 parts per million.The warning applies to oysters, clams, scallops, mussels and geoduck.

The Whatcom County Health Department is warning residents that PSP a common biotoxin is now at potentially lethal levels in mussels harvested in Bellingham Bay.

The overriding theory is that it's a bloom of algae brought on by rising water temperatures.