April 3rd, 2013 — Vesuvius Beach on Saltspring Island is famous for its sunsets but for the past few days the red has been in the water as an algae bloom, the infamous red tide which makes all the shell fish in the area poisonous if eaten by humans. Below there is a bloom of a different colour, this time on St. Mary Lake, the main source of drinking water on Saltspring Island, and caused by a combination of things to do with farming and septic fields being too close to the water’s edge. The water is actually drinkable, if you can stand the taste, once it’s through the local water treatment plant but definitely unswimable when it’s this colour.
