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In the late 1970s, a Stuttgart zoo imported a lush, bright green
seaweed for its aquarium. "Caulerpa taxifolia" was captively bred
by the zoo and exposed, for years, to chemicals and ultraviolet
light. Eventually a sample of it found its way to the Oceanographic
Museum in Monaco, then headed by Jacques Cousteau. Five years
later, while cleaning its tanks, that museum dumped the pretty
green plant into the Mediterranean. This supposedly benign little
plant - that no one thought could survive the waters of the
Mediterranean - now covers 10,000 acres of the coasts of France,
Spain, Italy and Croatia, and has devastated the Mediterranean
ecosystem. And it continues to grow, unstoppable and toxic. When
Alexandre Meinesz discovered a square-yard patch of it in 1984, he
warned biologists and oceanographers of the potential species
invasion. His calls went unheeded. At that point, one person could
have weeded the small patch out and ended the problem. Now,
however, the plant has defeated the French Navy, thwarted
scientific efforts to halt its rampage, and continues its
destructive journey into the Adriatic Sea. This text presents the
biological and political horror story of this invasion. For despite
Meinesz's pleas to scientists and the French government, no agency
was willing to take responsibility for the seaweed, and while the
buck was passed, the killer algae grew. In short, this work - part
detective story and part bureaucratic object lesson - is a classic
case of a devastating ecological invasion and how "not" to deal
with it.
Two decades ago, a Stuttgart zoo imported a lush, bright green
seaweed for its aquarium. "Caulerpa taxifolia" was captively bred
by the zoo and exposed, for years, to chemicals and ultraviolet
light. Eventually a sample of it found its way to the Oceanographic
Museum in Monaco, then headed by Jacques Cousteau. Fifteen years
ago, while cleaning its tanks, that museum dumped the pretty green
plant into the Mediterranean.
This supposedly benign little plant--that no one thought could
survive the waters of the Mediterranean--has now become a
pernicious force. "Caulerpa taxifolia" now covers 10,000 acres of
the coasts of France, Spain, Italy, and Croatia, and has devastated
the Mediterranean ecosystem. And it continues to grow, unstoppable
and toxic. When Alexandre Meinesz, a professor of biology at the
University of Nice, discovered a square-yard patch of it in 1984,
he warned biologists and oceanographers of the potential species
invasion. His calls went unheeded. At that point, one person could
have pulled the small patch out and ended the problem. Now,
however, the plant has defeated the French Navy, thwarted
scientific efforts to halt its rampage, and continues its
destructive journey into the Adriatic Sea.
"Killer Algae" is the biological and political horror story of this
invasion. For despite Meinesz's pleas to scientists and the French
government, no agency was willing to take responsibility for the
seaweed, and while the buck was passed, the killer algae grew. And
through it all, the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco sought to
exculpate itself. In short, "Killer Algae"--part detective story
and part bureaucratic object lesson--is a classic case of a
devastating ecological invasion and how "not" to deal with it.
" U]tterly fascinating, not only because of the ecological battles
Meinesz] describes but also because of the wondrous natural
phenomena involved."--Richard Bernstein, "New York Times"
"Akin to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Killer Algae shows the
courage of a voice in the wilderness."--"Choice"
"A textbook case of how not to manage an environmental
disaster."--Kirkus Reviews
"Meinesz's story is a frightening one, reading more like a science
fiction thriller than a scientific account."--"Publishers Weekly"
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