The annual algae bloom that washes up on Qingdao’s shores usually gets a lot of media coverage around the world. This year’s bloom is bigger than ever, and so, the news cycle has hit this story over and over, making sure people know that in China somewhere there are beaches covered in “green slime”, and people aren’t bothered enough by it to stay out of the water.
Though the BBC did say the smell of the algae was driving swimmers away, most other news outlets showed smiling beach-goers enjoying the experience and not caring about combing algae out of their swimsuits. Check out the world wide fascination with the 2013 algae bloom in Qingdao:
The LA Times: “The massive bloom covers an area more than twice the size of L.A. County in Qingdao, where beachgoers seem content to sink their toes into the algae.”
Lazerhorse: “Algae Covered Beach In Qingdao Looks Mental”.
One photo tweeted out carried the caption, “Residents of the city of Qingdao in Shandong province, China, are walking along a beach. Seriously, this is a beach.”
Nature World News: “China Faces Another Massive Algae Bloom as Pollution and Temperatures Rise”.
And then there’s the Yellow Sea turns green bit from 1) The Guardian and 2) Perth Now.
Even a site about K Pop carried news of the bloom: “Qingdao Beaches Blanketed In Massive Knee-High Algae Growth”.
Even obscure sites like Fish Information & Services: “Green carpet covers Yellow Sea beach”.
UPI Science News: “Largest algae bloom ever seen in China turns beaches green”.
International Science Times asks: “Heaps Of Slime Blanket Beaches In Qingdao City; Is The Invasive Algal Bloom Toxic?”.
A site about movies cares about algae – Cinema Blend picked up on the stink factor:”Smelly Algae Bloom Stretches Across China’s Coast”.
The Verge calculated 11 square miles of green slime. The French Quebec Huff Post carried photos and video of the “algues vertes”.
Local US television news sites carried reports of the algae. Business Insider headlined “China Beaches Are Green With Smelly ‘Sea Lettuce’ Algae Due To Record-Breaking Bloom”.
An American CBS news affiliate ran a video about “Massive amounts of algae washes ashore in China”.
Check that clip out below with the newscasters’ full reactions to the ick factor of the Great Algae Bloom of 2013.
Relevant Links:
Going Green: Beach Carpet
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