Sometimes known as 'Red Tides', some of the wide variety of
phytoplankton species in the World's oceans produce toxins which can
harm marine life. In certain circumstances, these harmful algae blooms
can even cause illness or death in humans. Shellfish filter feed on
phytoplankton and concentrate their toxins in their bodies and people
who eat them can contract life threatening food poisoning. A number of
countries have monitoring programs to measure the presence of toxins in
algae blooms. Monitoring of Harmful Algae Blooms is all about the
research techniques to monitor visible algae blooms and through remote
sensing, including infrared techniques, predict them through
mathematical modeling.