Organism

Coronado Cays, Calif. – Just below Nino the gondolier and the couple he’s paddling along for a sunset ride down canals lined by multimillion-dollar homes, a less idyllic scene is unfolding.  An aggressive algae able to clone itself from a fragment the size of a fingernail into an underwater forest that quashes nearly all other life forms has taken root. The chance discovery of Caulerpa prolifera in the Coronado Cays in September triggered an emergency response that might seem something of the cinema. Within a day, a vast network of federal, state and local agencies were stirred into action. “Why are the wildlife agencies treating this like such a big deal?” Jeremy Haas from the Regional Water Board asked rhetorically, acknowledging the scale of the response. The algae smothers out native ecosystems and destroys essential food and shelter resources, pushing out a variety of marine life. It also produces a toxin that...