CHIMACUM — Anderson Lake State Park was temporarily closed Monday following the death of a pet dog and the near-death of another after they swallowed toxic algae blooms in the lake’s waters over the weekend.
A third dog was killed from ingesting the blue-green algae in the 70-acre lake during Memorial Day weekend, said Jefferson County Public Health officials.
“This shows how toxic the blue-green algae can be,” said Public Health Director Mike McNickle.
“The more the dose, the higher the response.”
Public Health employees took samples of the algae-laced water Monday to be analyzed in a water management laboratory in Tacoma.
McNickle said the park will remain closed at least until the results from the tests come back, which could take a week.
Other lakes sampled
Other Jefferson County lakes in the area, such as Gibbs Lake in Chimacum, are also being sampled and tested, said McNickle.
But he said Public Health has not received reports of any other blooms of blue-green algae in Jefferson County lakes.
There also have been no reports from Clallam County lakes.
Blue-green algae, or cyanogacteria, occurs when a high concentration of sunlight hit fresh water saturated with nutrients like phosphorous.
McNickle said the algae has a bad smell and coats the surface of water, which is how it can be identified.
Although the algae is toxic to humans, animals tend to be affected by it because they are more willing to drink foul-smelling, standing water, said McNickle.
The symptoms of blue-green algae exposure can be abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting.
In humans, they can have numb lips, tingling fingers and toes, or they may feel dizzy.
Severe in animals
Animals can have more severe symptoms.
Minutes after Daisy, the dog of Port Hadlock resident Ann Katsikapes, jumped into Anderson Lake on Saturday and lapped up its water, Daisy was convulsing on the ground, Katsikapes said Monday.
She had brought Daisy to Anderson Lake for the first time along with her sister, mother and five other dogs.
Katsikapes said it was mysterious how only Daisy was affected when the other dogs jumped in the lake and probably drank more water than Daisy.
While Daisy was having seizures on the ground near the lake’s edge, a car drove by with a woman, Karen Lopez, and her dog, Bubba, inside.
Lopez said her dog had just had a seizure as well, said Katsikapes.
Taken to animal hospital
Both women brought their sick dogs to Oak Bay Animal Hospital in Port Hadlock where they were treated.
Bubba could not be saved and was euthanized.
