ESSEX -- As harbor master for the Town of Essex, Stan Tuller checks boating conditions along the Lake Champlain shoreline from the hamlet to Whallons Bay.

But he also keeps an eye open these days for any signs of unusual algae growth as a volunteer monitor for the Lake Champlain Committee's lake-wide Blue-Green Algae Monitoring Program.

Once a week, Tuller takes samples from the lake along the cement pier at Beggs Park. These are handed over to Lake Champlain Committee Staff Scientist Michael Winslow for testing at the University of Vermont's Rubenstein Lab.

"Mike spoke to our supervisor (Ron Jackson) and asked if he knew of somebody who was familiar with the lake and might want to monitor for blue-green algae," Tuller said from his home near Beggs Park. "Since I'm near the water a lot, Ron contacted me, and I said yes."

WATCHING THE WATERS

Blue-green algae has been a concern in Lake Champlain for the past several years. This particular species of algae can become toxic and has been connected to a few dog deaths since it was first identified a decade ago.

The volunteer monitoring program is one way officials are keeping tabs on what is happening to algae growth during the summer months, when it becomes most abundant.

"We like to target areas where there are drinking-water intakes, high use of public recreation or where we have identified past samples (of the potentially toxic aquatic vegetation)," Winslow said as he met with Tuller to collect this week's samples.

SAMPLE SITES

Beggs Park in Essex is an ideal location for sampling since it is both near a water-intake pipe and available to the public for swimming and other uses.

"Two or three years ago, we found a high concentration here," Winslow said, pointing to a spot on the inside corner of the pier that is protected from waves and wind coming off the lake.

The algae bloom at Beggs Park was not that large, and Winslow said it was difficult to say why it appeared there, but monitoring has continued at the spot since then.

Volunteers check more than a dozen sites along the lake, including Willsboro, Point au Roche and Rouses Point in New York waters.

Samples had been taken from Cumberland Bay but were stopped after three years with no traces of blue-green algae.

ALGAE ALERTS