Algae outbreaks threaten Olympic sailing in China

BEIJING — With less than six weeks before it plays host to the Olympic sailing regatta, the city of Qingdao has mobilized thousands of people and an armada of small boats to clean up an algal bloom choking the coastline and threatening to impede the Olympic competition.

Local officials have launched an intense effort to clean up the algae by mid-July. Media reports estimate as many as 20,000 people have either volunteered or been ordered to participate in the operation, while 1,000 boats are scooping algae out of the Yellow Sea. The country’s official news agency, Xinhua, reported that algae currently covers a third of the coastal waters designated for the Olympic competition.

Water quality has been a concern for the Olympic sailing events, given that many coastal Chinese cities dump untreated sewage into the sea. At the same time, rivers and tributaries emptying into coastal waters are often contaminated with high levels of nitrates from agricultural and industrial runoff. These nitrates contribute to the red tides of algae that often bloom along sections of China’s coastline.

Yuan Zhiping, an official with the Qingdao Olympics Sailing Committee, told reporters on Sunday that the government would attempt to block algae from floating into the Olympic sailing area by installing a fenced perimeter in the sea that is more than 30 miles long..

The massive outbreak comes as some sailing teams are already in Qingdao preparing for the Olympics. Photographs in the Australian press showed an Australian team seemingly stuck in a carpet of algae during a training run. A British windsurfer, Bryony Shaw, who has been training in Qingdao, told the English media that the algae would pose significant problems to the competition if it is not cleaned up.

“There’s no way you can sail through it,” Ms. Shaw said. “If it’s still here in August, it could be a real problem.”