PORT CLINTON -- Blue-green algae threatens the health of Lake Erie and Ohio's economy.
It's a monster lurking in Lake Erie. It's toxic, it eats oxygen, and if left to grow, could destroy Ohio's $10 billion tourism industry.
Dr. Jeff Reutter, director of Ohio State/Sea Grant and Stone Lab, says, "This is absolutely the biggest problem facing Lake Erie right now."
It's so big, you can see it from outer space. The green sludge stretched from Lake Erie's western basin all the way east of Cleveland.
Charter boat captains weren't happy.
Capt. Rick Unger, of Chiefs Charters, took some clients out of Cleveland. They went 14 miles north of the city and never got out of it.
"As you're driving through it, it will actually slow you down. This type of algae is toxic. I don't want to take my customers out into it," Unger said.
The Lake Erie Charter Boat Association is trying to educate people on just what this menace could do to the lake and its surrounding communities.
WKYC Photojournalist Carl "Big Daddy" Bachtel picks up the story from there. To see the report, click the play button.
For more information on Lake Erie's health and blue-green algae, contact the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association or Ohio State/Sea Grant through the links provided.
If you have any questions about this story or any other of Big Daddy's outdoors reports, you can send him an email at cbachtel@wkyc.com or you can find him on his Facebook page Outdoors with Big Daddy WKYC
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