[Onshore]

Hi All:
The greenish-brownish balls that are floating around Winnipesaukee is a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium. The cyanobacterium, Gloeotrichia echinulata is the organism you are looking at in Winnipesaukee. We can also find Gloeo in Lake Opechee, Lake Winnisquam and Lake Sunapee. The bloom has occured annually in each of those lakes. The cells begin in late July and typically reach a maximum by the last week in August and finally diassapear by the end of September.
Unfortunately, preliminary testing has revealed that the cell contain toxins. If you observe a high concentration around your area, please avoid swimming and don't let pets drink water with high cell concentration.
The cells may not be in all of the areas of the lake but move around with the wind and lake currents. It may be possible that one side of the lake has a high concentration while the opposite side has very low concentration.
Gloeo is one of the cyanobacterias that are being researched right now so we expect to learn more about their ecology and toxicity within the next year.
Hope this answers your questions and helps you out.
Jody Connor,
Limnologist, NH DES