Warning over algae in Lake Rotoiti

People have been warned off contact with some of the water in Lake Rotoiti, near Rotorua, where a potentially dangerous blue-green algae is blooming.

The so-called cyanobacteria has affected lakes in the Rotorua area each summer for a decade.

Medical officer of health Dr Phil Shoemack said yesterday that people should not drink the water from the western Ohau Channel end of Lake Rotoiti.

Nor should they swim, water-ski or take part in any other recreational activity involving touching it.

Eating live fish caught there should be safe, but any dead fish might have been killed by toxins.

Contact with the algae could severely affect the nervous and respiratory systems and the liver.

Herald feature: Environment