Collaborative Research: ECOHAB-GOM: The Ecology and Oceanography of Toxic Alexandrium Blooms in the Gulf of Maine

有害藻华，通常被称为“赤潮”或HABs，是全世界严重的经济和公共卫生问题。在美国，最严重的HAB问题是麻痹性贝类中毒（PSP），这是一种潜在致命的神经系统疾病，由人类摄入贝类引起，这些贝类以亚历山大属的鞭毛藻为食，积累毒素。这些生物导致人类疾病和死亡，因为PSP，贝类收获的反复检疫，以及鱼类和海洋哺乳动物的死亡。这种现象影响了美国数千英里的海岸线和大量的渔业资源，在过去20年里急剧扩大，尤其是在缅因湾。ECOHAB-GOM解决了关于缅因湾亚历山大菌大量繁殖的几个基本问题：1)在缅因西部沿海流（WMCC）的淡水羽流中出现的亚历山大菌细胞的来源；2)东缅因海岸流（EMCC）中亚历山大菌胞体的分布与动态；3) WMCC、EMCC和乔治海岸的水华之间的联系。利用数值模拟、水文、化学和生物测量、系泊和漂流电流测量以及卫星图像的组合，我们将描述缅因湾亚历山大菌主要栖息地的结构、变化和技术特征。

Harmful algal blooms, commonly called `red tides` or HABs, are a serious economic and public health problem throughout the world. In the U.S., the most serious HAB problem is paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), a potentially fatal neurological disorder caused by human ingestion of shellfish that accumulate toxins as they feed on dinoflagellates of the genus Alexandrium. These organisms cause human illness and death due to PSP, repeated shellfish harvest quarantines, and the mortality of fish and marine mammals. This phenomenon, which affects thousands of miles of U.S. coastline and numerous fisheries resources, has expanded dramatically in the last two decades, especially in the Gulf of Maine. The ECOHAB-GOM addresses several fundamental issues regarding Alexandrium blooms in the Gulf of Maine: 1) the source of the Alexandrium cells that appear in the fresh water plumes in the western Maine coastal current (WMCC); 2) Alexandrium cell distribution and dynamics in the eastern Maine coastal current (EMCC); and 3) linkages among blooms in the WMCC, the EMCC and on Georges Bank. Utilizing a combination of numerical modeling, hydrographic, chemical, and biological measurements, moored and drifting current measurements, and satellite imagery, we will characterize the structure, variability and autecology of the major Alexandrium habitats in the Gulf of Maine.