Blue green algae.

We have a bloom of blue green algae in our front dam. Pip is banned from swimming as it can cause health issues and even kill stock. Luckily we don't have any stock in that field at the moment. Actually this is a type of bacteria known as Cyanobacteria and not an algae. A bloom occurs in still water when the weather is warm, stable and nutrient levels are high. These conditions can cause layers to occur in the water, usually a warm layer over a deeper colder layer of water. It's only the second bloom we've had in this dam. The locals told us back at the first bloom that a bale of Barley straw would cure the problem. So this time we bought a bale and place it in amongst the bloom and secured the bale to a post. It seems the rotting bale releases chemicals which inhibit the growth of the algae as it's a microbial process.The bale also encourages phytoplankton grazing organisms nearby which attack the algae, so scientific studies have found. All we know is that given time the bloom will go away and the dam will be fit for our stock and Pips swimming activities again.