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My dog is ill, not gravely ill, but earlier this week he appeared to be so. During a walk he had swum in a small blue-green algae-infested lake. Unfortunately, he bounded so far ahead of me that I couldn't prevent him from jumping in. Had I kept up with him, I've no doubt I would have called him to heel; as a keen outdoor swimmer, when I'm on a summer break I'm always on the lookout for any telltale signs of lethal algae. Quite simply, I don't want to sustain the kind of holiday injury that might not just end my break away but may also have the potential to end my life.
If only Archie had listened to the experts from the Pollution Control Agency, "An animal that has ingested toxins from an algae bloom can show a variety of symptoms, ranging from skin irritation or vomiting to severe disorders involving the circulatory, nervous and digestive systems, and severe skin lesions. In the worst case, the animal may suffer convulsions and die."
Although things seemed terminal on Tuesday, with Archie limp, blank-eyed and drip-fed, it is Friday now and, touch wood, he seems to be on the way to recovering from his poisoning.
Fortunately, with exceptions for ignorance or foolhardiness, the holiday injury risk to us humans is actually pretty low, as we can spot the signs of infestation. The same expert explains, "People are seldom seriously affected by toxic algae because the unpleasant odor and appearance of water associated with blue-green algae blooms tend to make us avoid it. However, skin rashes, nasal irritation, or other health effects may result from skin contact with algal toxins. Swallowing or ingesting water with a blue-green algae bloom may cause symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, or nausea; headache, throat irritation, or muscle pain; and in severe cases paralysis or respiratory failure."
Sadly, it is during these summer months when the temperature is most clement for swimming that conditions are rife for these algae infestations to take hold. And they are all over Britain. The Environment Agency explains, "Blue green algae communities are fairly ubiquitous.
"It occurs all over the place in all kinds of water bodies and when conditions are right, when it's calm and there's lots of nutrients, then it takes advantage of it and grow.
I'm just glad that I didn't decide to holiday in Brittany this year, where beaches have been overrun with infestations of rotting algae.
I was there in 2007, as a friend of mine has a holiday cottage at Lermot; he told me that the infestation has become so bad that the fumes from the algae now make it impossible to go to the beach.
One 27-year-old man discovered this the hard way, when he was on the beach riding a horse when it collapsed and died because of the strength of the toxic fumes. He suffered holiday injury and is now in the process of making a no win, no fee claim.
I'm not sure who would be be the liable party in such legal action, but many blame farming practices. "The solution is to stop pollution from intensive farming. It literally stinks inland because of places like pig farms – and now it stinks by the sea," explains one local.
