Algae risk to duck shooters

By ELIZABETH BINNING

Duck shooters are being warned to keep themselves and their dogs out of shallow algae-infested lakes as they prepare for the duck shooting season.

At this time of year shooters start placing their decoys and building maimais around many of Waikato's lakes.

But the shooting season, which starts on May 3 and attracts about 8000 shooters in the Waikato/Auckland region, could prove harmful to humans and dog - not just the ducks.

Naturally occurring blooms of blue-green algae are plaguing shallow lakes in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

The algae can result in vomiting and diarrhoea in humans and has been known to kill animals.

Waikato medical officer of health Dell Hood said duck shooters visiting the lakes to prepare for the season should avoid all contact with the water.

Environment Waikato water scientist Bill Vant said dogs were probably more susceptible than humans to the effects of the algae because of their size and eagerness to enter the water.

As well as diarrhoea and vomiting, humans who ingest water, fish or the algae itself may experience headaches, fever, abdominal pain and nausea. Entering contaminated water can irritate eyes and skin and cause other allergic reactions.

The effects on animals are worse, with the most severe being liver or nervous system damage, possibly causing death.

In the Waikato, health warnings at lakes Whangape, Waahi, Kainui, Hakanoa and Ngaroto advise people not to have contact with the water or take fish, which could carry the toxins in their bodies, as could ducks, which feed and swim in the lakes.

The algae is likely to disappear once the weather cools.

Blue-green algal blooms are common throughout the country at this time of year and have been reported recently in the Bay of Plenty, Manawatu, Canterbury and Otago.