Each year, phytoplankton blooms known as "red tides" kill millions of fish and other marine organisms and blanket vast areas of coastal water around the world.

With toxic algal blooms — which can increase the amount of harmful toxins in the shellfish that California residents consume — ramping up in frequency and severity locally, scientists at USC have developed a new algae monitoring method in hopes of one day being able to predict when and where toxic "red tides" will occur.

Unprecedented algae growth in some lakes could be linked to the decline of water calcium levels and the subsequent loss of an important algae-grazing organism that helps keep blooms at bay.

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania and West Virginia Departments of Environmental Protection have begun sampling and monitoring ponds and streams in the Dunkard Creek area after sampling found golden algae in a privately owned pond in Greene County, Pennsylvania.

A new Baylor University study has found that sunlight decreases the toxicity of golden algae, which kills millions of fish in the southern United States every year.