The 50 year cover up that POISONED the largest lake in Ireland

[@StephenJReid]

A couple of things! 1. This video has taken off in a way I didn't expect as it's not my usual kind of content. Welcome to all the new subscribers and hopefully you like a mix of outdoors content 🙂 2. I'm not a trained journalist and there are a few things I didn’t manage to fit into this video. So, I’m going to mention some of these and also address some comments and questions in my next patreon email newsletter. Sign up for free: www.patreon.com/stephenjreid 3. I'm planning a follow up video about the solutions to this issue, but I have no idea when I'll get to it.

[@Intelligence_Failure]

"blind spot" sounds like something at least bordering on being incorrect. I see you've been active on youtube for an extremely long time, so you probably don't need to be told about youtube etiquette, but as a youtube viewer who has seen many a youtuber critique, I would recommend that anything qualifiable as a correction on a documentary video on youtube should be posted to youtube in some form, not be much less public by being available only through an email newsletter. posting corrections prominently is a good look, hiding them is not. if what you're talking about is purely additional information that does not contradict the video and does not invalidate its framing, dangling that as a newsletter invite is a good idea, but then your choice of words here was unreasonably negatively connotated. if you know additional information that does contradict a part of the video, then any corrections should be posted to youtube in some form. if you don't want to post a corrections video because you only want to post high quality whole videos, that is a very defensible choice (and can be a good idea to avoid encouraging hostile engagements from other online creators). in that case, as a viewer I most prefer a pinned comment under the original incomplete video with a clear list of corrections or annotations, but other valid options are the oldschool way of editing the video description, or writing a community post and pinning a comment that notifies viewers that there is a community post or links to it. very good video though, it looks great and has a good amount of detail and good pacing. and I like the absence of background music. +1 subscriber :)

[@sanyopoweraid1]

we're having the same problem in lake ontario in canada

[@StephenJReid]

@@Intelligence_Failuremaybe I worded this the wrong way. I meant additional information. Not a correction. Any corrections I would add to a pinned post or put in description

[@SKeane-jb6uj]

Were you standing in Gunnera there just before you dealt with the Zebra Mussels? 👀

[@mihaiilie8808]

A few facts from a scientist :cyanobacteria is an algae not a bacteria. Algae are not bacteria and also not plants. Phosphorus only acumulates over time in the lake and the only way to take it out is to collect the algae biomass or ( the best way) to bind the phosphorus to calcium. That means to grow bony fish in the lake that build their skeletons from calcium phosphate. Calcium phosphate or the fish bones, are insoluble in eater and they take the phosphorus out of the water column. The fish dies of old age, his skeleton sinks and he has trapped phosphorus. The best fish that do this are the silver carps that are harmless filter feeders. They eat algae while they breathe and they build a big skeleton for their size. Americans hate this fish but its the most ecological, harmless fish. And the deal with cyanobacteria is because is an algae and not a plant, it can split the nitrogen directly from the air, like bacteria do. Plants cant split N2 themselves. They need bacteria to do it for them. So cyanobacteria has all the nitrogen she wants directly from the air. Doesnt need nitrogen as fertiliser, only the phosphorus she needs. Another good idea is to have zebra mussels grow and black carps that eat zebra mussels. They will trap the phosphorus from zebra mussels into their bones. Zebra mussels, although good for filtering and biomass, they dont trap phosphorus because their shells are calcium carbonate not calcium phosphate like the bones of the fish. So when zebra mussels die, they release back all the phosphorus into the water. But an efficient fish like the black carp, that eats them to grow his skeleton from calcium phosphate could be beneficial and turn even the zebra mussels into beneficial critters. Still not as good as the 2 asian filter feeders carps. Its that cheap and easy to save the lake but as you said, nobody cares. Its all just talk and politics but nobody does nothing. And its called eutrophication. Each autumn the lake is in danger to crash the whole aquatic ecosistem. The algae wont get enough sunlight and will die and rot. It has proteins like meat not like plants. Then the bacteria starts to decompose the dead algae and uses all the oxigen in the lake, causing all the oxigen breathing life forms to die from lack of oxigen.

[@Daedric_Sion]

Another example of someone on youtube doing a better job of reporting on this than the mainstream media. Great work.

[@seanomurchu5048]

That's not a particularly fair assessment. This video was great but so was Spotlight's episode on the subject earlier this year.

[@casbienbarr]

you're not thinking for yourself bub just coz you dont watch ITV. You're just indoctrinated by another media. bonus points: This is mainstream media, you're on youtube. What you mean is traditional media.

[@ivermektin6874]

BBC needs defunded.

[@BlondieYouTube]

@@ivermektin6874 Who do you think are also funding the major news outlets? The Goverments, the Big Corporations, the Catholic Church. Don't expect any real critical news done by the bigger news programs, they won't do research, just ask opinions, never verbally investigate (unless it's a group that's un-popular by their funders) then call it a day and do surface level news, if it ever reaches the news at all.

[@krinos1]

@@ivermektin6874even though he cited bbc articles several times?

[@countcarmel]

I’m from NI and at lake annecy in France at the minute. Decades ago they put legislation in place to prevent exactly what has happened to lough neagh! It’s now the cleanest lake in Europe and the water is crystal clear. Political negligence, incompetence and indifference is the root of the lough neagh issue without a doubt.

[@improvwithlions4173]

Annecy is a beautiful place! I was lucky to be able to visit, and I'm so glad people take care of it.

[@ambbf1983]

I swim there every year, never seen a most wonderful lake than Annecy. Glad to know the French government prevented this disaster to happen.

[@josharmstrong8271]

From the looks of it Lough Neagh is a basin lake, but lake Annecy is fed by snow melt and springs with FAR fewer farms making it naturally clear although without regulation even it would be polluted. Due to the nature of Lough Neagh the regulation required to make the lake clean again would be catastrophic to the local population.

[@MegaGrumpyoldman]

Catastrophic to the pig factory's you mean ​@@josharmstrong8271

[@SynomDroni]

To clean is not great either. In Germany many lakes are essentially sterile for cleanliness, after all nutrients are at the beginning of the food chain. All in good measure.

[@Le_Petit_Lapin]

Political incompetence? Here? In N.Ireland? _Never!_

[@willieclark2256]

Personally I’m shocked

[@angelachouinard4581]

As an American I'm so used to political incompetence I've come to be shocked when it's not in evidence.

[@martinlatvian5538]

​@@angelachouinard4581 imagine if in US one of the states was governed by another country. What political competence then You can expect?

[@ulture]

@@martinlatvian5538 the US is the 'other country' in that scenario

[@gaelicd8328]

​@martinlatvian5538 mainland UK have similar issues with potable and waste water. The discharge of waste water into rivers, lakes and sea is shocking, absolutely shocking. 14 years of a Conservative government put pay to any resemblance of environmental controll / regulation. If you live in the states this something to look forward to if Trump gets back. Remember Flint, West Virginia, Rail Safety. Well you will under Trump as he wants to deregulate all he can

[@ianwilkinson7612]

Very engaging video Stephen. Also worth noting that in the 1970s sewage treatment plants around the Lough Neagh discharged directly into it. When the Blue Green algae blooms occurred back then, the sewage was diverted from discharge into the lough or complex tertiary treatment was installed. NI primary agriculture and food processors produce enough food for 10 million people, (NI pop is 1.9million) so we're a major exporter and therefore an intensive producer with associated levels of waste material. An old Cree indian saying is relevant here "Only after the last tree is cut down; only after the last fish is caught; only after the last lake and river are poisoned - only then will man realise that he cannot eat money."

[@SMacCuUladh]

I know you can't eat money, them Cree aren't too smart.

[@kantakouzini]

@@SMacCuUladh neither were the irish who poisoned this lake....lol

[@Conorguill]

@@kantakouzini British governance is at the heart of this particular one

[@ioandjupiter685]

3 sec of research: The main reasons for this issue are sewage treatment plants and agriculture.

[@Conorguill]

@@ioandjupiter685 yup all things regulated and overseen by govt & however I may feel about it, NI is still part of the UK

[@robskelly1666]

Thanks for this Stephen. My wife and myself had to permanently close our watersports business in Coleraine last year due to the Blue Green Algae flowing out of Lough Neagh. This was heartbreaking, not only for us but also for our staff and customers, some of whom had been with us since 1996. We had spent our lives on the water and were the only waterski and wakeboard school in Northern Ireland, other activities we offered were Supping, Kayaking and Canoeing - all of which are now gone. In response to a letter sent by a local MLA to the Department for the Ecomony, asking what support there was for small businesses affected by the algae to response was "The business has closed and will be missed."

[@thatsthejobbb8587]

That's absolutely shocking for you and your community!!

[@Gorrash]

That sounds like a really good lawsuit agaisnt the local government or smth man, don't let it go that easy

[@susanhunter5524]

I’m sorry you lost you business. Our politicians have only been interested in supporting big businesses.

[@Pugetwitch]

Damn. Sure you're not in the USA? Sick of the BS from sell out bureaucrats all across the world.

[@swagkillayolonoscopesgg]

Water sport yummy

[@Vivienwestphal]

This is my vote to stop calling it an "algae" and start calling it a bacteria. This is not a "bloom", it's a bacterial outbreak. I bet you if we stopped using the flowery language about "algae bloom" people would take it more seriously.

[@HondaMonkeyMan]

Yep. Cyanobacteria.

[@0.-.0]

No, because it behaves like an algae. It doesn't matter that it's technically a bacteria. This happens with different kinds of harmful algae too, which are not bacteria. It makes far more sense to call it an algae bloom-- because when you see things like this, it can be due to many different types of algae, not just cyanobacteria like in this video

[@williansnobre]

​@@0.-.0call it algae outbreak then, the problem is that calling it a bloom softens makes it sound like a not so bad of a problem.

[@objective_psychology]

You would think, but no, most people don't know or care

[@technoschnauzer4327]

I honestly never thought about this cause I personally hear ‘algae bloom’ and get spooked cause you really only ever hear it in the context of it being harmful. Like have literally never heard of an algae bloom that is neutral or good, but I’m also really into biology so

[@SmellyferretX]

This film deserves to "blow up" - Well filmed and informed and a really shocking situation.

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks 🙂

[@embracetheruck]

Such a great vid! Remember us little people when you get famous 😂

[@DR3ADER1]

And it's too fucking late anyway to do anything about it. If anything, the last opporunity was in 1967, not 1973 and even THAT is too late.

[@darkbearmoon]

​@@DR3ADER1it's not too late, that type of thinking keeps it in this state. 40 years from now people will be wishing we cared enough to solve it now.

[@RaverOperator]

Agreed! 👍💯

[@AttilaTheDev]

Solid journalism. You should 100% do more of these. 👏

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks Attila. I have some kinda similar ones planned.

[@e.k.4508]

​@@StephenJReidNice! Although I understand it's a tough job, long hours and little income. But thanks in ahead for doing this

[@SMacCuUladh]

@@StephenJReid Except for walking around in the gunk, not exactly smart, lad.

[@StephenJReid]

@@SMacCuUladh but it got people’s attention and I was willing to take the risk for that.

[@algobo]

Agree!!! More of these! 👏👏👏

[@handle433]

It shows you the incompetence in Ireland, this was reported once, two years ago, in a 3 minutes segment on our national news service. We know more about America than our own country!!!!

[@StephenJReid]

I can’t believe how few people in ROI know about it. Was headline news up here on multiple occasions

[@handle433]

@@StephenJReid it’s ridiculous. Little to any urgency on the matter. It’s a theme on this beautiful island of ours, unfortunately we will be the only victims.

[@MaryNaughton]

It would be great if the Northern Ireland government did their jobs.

[@Praisethesunson]

Isn't northern Ireland owned and controlled by the Brits? Seems like this(as with most problems)

[@eileenhetherington3704]

What does America have to do with it? It's Ireland's own media which decides what stories to run.

[@JeffLemmon-kh4nm]

I’m in my sixties. My grandfather was an engineer with the US Public Health Service and began his career in Iowa. He would talk endlessly about the pig (mainly) farming and the extensive damage done to waterways- in the 1920s! The damage was largely mitigated, for some period. I can see it everywhere now because of personal greed and how we are supposed to embrace that. Thank you for your work!

[@Bloodlinedev]

Blame the game not the player. If you force people to do farming this extensive to make a good living they will do it.

[@Marynicole830]

@@BloodlinedevI blame both. If every farmer did what they could to mitigate damage while still making a living, the issues wouldn’t be as bad as they are. Many farmers do care and do what they can without harming themselves but it’s offset by the other two types. Corporate farms and independent farmers who belong to the ‘good ole boys’ club who absolutely do not care and honestly thing caring makes them weak (caring is harder than not caring so actually not caring is weaker than caring but they want to keep being lazy while keeping a strong image of themselves so they convince themselves that the harder path is weakness) I grew up around agriculture. You know who harmed the honest, small time farmer who’s just trying to make a living? The other two I mentioned. They bully the honest small farms out. I’ve seen whole towns gang up on a small farmer trying to do right by the community and the environment because their neighbor didn’t like it because what happens if it becomes expected of everyone? Or they just get insulted by someone who cares about a subject they hate since caring about the world we live and are stuck on has become political. Anyway get a few of these ‘good ole boy’ farmers together with the connections they have and they can start a smear campaign on anyone and run them out. None of it has to be based in reality. The communities trusts these guys because they act like they are upstanding, honest (usually but not always) men but behind closed doors they are lying, scheming assholes. Then they complains when corporate farms run them out like they did their neighbors. I have people in my family like that and I hate it. I would have loved to have gotten into agriculture but my only way into it was to support gross, damaging practices and help them accomplish them before I could get to the point of having my own farm and I couldn’t do it. I’m choosing fast food over them. That’s how bad they are. And I’ve seen the same story play out across the country (the US). Maybe it’s different where this video takes place but usually people are people wherever you go and some farmers believe in being stewards of the land instead of parasites while some believe they should strip the land of anything valuable as fast as possible without thinking of the future. Sometimes they even ruin their own farms. There is plenty of blame to go around. There’s enough to blame both parties. Any farmer that is trying their best to do right by the land, whatever their best is, is not the target here. If they aren’t doing enough then that may be a conversation for later, how can we support farmers who want to protect the environment, but right now this mess and messes like it all over the world have been done by those who don’t care and don’t try. We have to deal with them first.

[@Cerceify4645]

Several years ago I got a copy of a magazine, I think from the NRDC. On the cover was: "Too Much Pig". The author, an owner of a small newspaper, won a Pulitzer Prize for his series of stories about the pigs in Iowa and the Des Moines waterworks. Intense production of corn is also involved. Here in Florida Ag is idiotically powerful. Our rivers and estuaries have the same waste and sewage problems. Just breathing in the cyanobacteria can cause dementia. Now this is all finally linked to Red Tide in the Gulf of Mexico and our once beautiful beaches.

[@SatanenPerkele]

Dog waste is a common cause of this type of dangerous contamination in waterways. (Ecoli bacteria and severe algea blooms are triggered to spread rapidly in water due to dog waste being flushed out with ground water) Also 1 medium sized dog release as much CO2e into our atmosphere as a large family sized SUV-car releases each year. So you want to save nature? Solution: don't own a dog 🚫✋️ Dog ownership is at an all time high right now.

[@SatanenPerkele]

Dog waste is a common cause of this type of dangerous contamination in waterways. (Ecoli bacteria and severe algea blooms are triggered to spread rapidly in water due to dog waste being flushed out with ground water) Also 1 medium sized dog release as much CO2e into our atmosphere as a large family sized SUV-car releases each year. So you want to save nature? Solution: don't own a dog 🚫✋️Dog ownership is at an all time h!gh right now

[@MarvinofMars]

I was ill from algae from May to August last year after making contact launching kayaks in the Western Shore of Lough Neagh. No warnings were in place until late June. At that stage we had rumors' of pet dogs dying on the Antrim side. (North East side). I grew up yards from this shoreline, swam daily in the summers since 1981. It is really hard to accept, the damage to the insect, mallocs , aquatic life, and wild animals like otters and birds. I stare daily at my sail boat resting on its trailer with thoughts of, if will never sail the Lough again? Our Big Friendly Giant is dying.😢

[@StephenJReid]

it's horrendous that usage of the Lough is wiped out for near 6 months of the year now. I was out on it occasionally this year until mid June, but the algae was present then and I didn't go back out

[@calebz1448]

​@StephenJReid this isn't the same scale but my tiny little town of 1300 in the American Midwest released not properly treated sewage into our local creek for decades while paying fines to the department of natural resources for doing so. It was cheaper to pay the fines than fix the problems. We need to make a good incentive to build better treatment plants instead of fines for noncompliance

[@LaughingMan44]

Unfortunately boomers lived with their heads in the sand and left the rest of us with this giant mess

[@calebz1448]

@@LaughingMan44 you mean just like everyone lived with their heads in the sand for the most recent 5 years as well. Pinning that on 1 generation is asinine

[@LaughingMan44]

@@calebz1448 This problem started within the boomer's generation and they've done nothing but kick the can down the road. Boomer's are probably the worst generation to have ever existed. Inherited so much opportunity, given so much responsibility, and squandered it all, from the environment, economy, culture, politics, they've ruined it

[@aqueuse]

Thank you for raising the alarm so loudly ! We also have cyanobacteria problem in France and I hope it will never be as bad as here. I will stay vigilant !

[@StephenJReid]

Thank you! 🙂 I hope it won’t get this bad for you either!

[@adamplevey8385]

Making a real ten year plan or God forbid a 20 or 30 year plan is utterly pointless for any government whose only concern is being re-elected every 3-5 years....

[@th4tw3irdg1rl]

Not if it becomes a highly publicized issue, and the public take it seriously for the foreseeable future. Politicians will take stances on issues like this that are bipartisan, and making cleaning the lake and keeping it clean such an issue shouldnt be difficult, but the press is who needs to do it.

[@therockbottom5256]

Altruism needs to be part of the Ruler Rubric

[@adamplevey8385]

@th4tw3irdg1rl when the public find out whose paying for it with higher food prices and tax's, im running against you on a platform of not doing that and saving local farmers.....rarely do politicians do what's painful now, and even if they do, future governments don't have to stick to it.

[@anivicuno9473]

​@@th4tw3irdg1rl You're so cute, believing that democracy is about giving people a voice and not protecting politicians from getting lynched by angry mobs

[@BinaryBlueBull]

Indeed, agreed. That is an inherent issue with democratic cycles which causes a lot of problems. A lot of democratically elected positions also have term limits, so if elections are every four years and there's a limit of two terms, the absolute longest timeframe that any of these politicians will consider making plans, is eight years, though they usually stick to just a single cycle of four years. This is an advantage that autocratic systems have (I'm not saying here that those are better than democracy, just that they're better in this one single--though very important--aspect) because for them it's necessary to plan out to twenty years or longer, since there's a good chance they'll still be in charge by then. Just look at what China is doing, their leaders have plans in place that will take decades to complete. The Belt and Road initiative, as an example. Of course, there's also the issue of competing parties getting into power and making an effort to wind back as much of the achievements of the previous party as possible Any ideas on how we could tackle this issue and cause longer-term planning among our leaders? I've been thinking on this for quite some time but I can't seem to come up with something, other than changing the entire system in ways which could also have lots of unexpected consequences

[@jamessurnamepending1239]

More people need to know about this. I've talked to a lot of farmers who just can't comprehend why dumping sewage into rivers could be bad

[@waltermcphee3787]

It is not just slurry, but run off of artificial fertilizer used to boost grass growth.

[@mmfood3004]

They understand perfectly well - they just don't care.

[@jamessurnamepending1239]

@waltermcphee3787 it's both. There's run off from industrial farming too

[@franciasii2435]

​@mmfood3004 where im from, the farmers are beneath uneducated. They are outright misinformed. They are draining rivers and destroying ecosystems for a few extra bucks. Then they sell their farms to the next schmuck who doesn't change a thing about it. Some farming industries like dairy are significantly worse than others. Such a massive waste of land, and it pollutes the water. Disgusting, but hey, it's good for the economy!!! 😵‍💫

[@cheeks7050]

A lot of farmers don't care for anything or anyone but themselves.

[@techvillage]

This is a fantastic documentary - you are really, really good at it. I hope this gets the attention it deserves.

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks! It’s definitely getting a lot of attention!

[@sheilagavin8281]

Thank you for your great work! My first time viewing your channel.I just subscribed

[@elmarieobrien7993]

Thanks for making this video, im sure it was a sad and difficult one, thanks for doing it

[@dannybananas132]

Im 37 from Dublin and this is the 1st time im hearing about this and im so happy you gave the warning about dogs dying from and others . Should set up a ad campaing for the dangers and shame the officials with images and are refusing to help the situation

[@LizinationTheWise]

I'm far removed from Ireland, but we have the same issues with Lake Erie here in the US. Invasive zebra mussels, poor waste management, lack of agricultural legislation and issues with enforcement of that legislation. Struggles with balancing farming and community. Even the same issues with wastewater maintenance and septic. Thanks for bringing light to this, the people deserve to know what's happening to our freshwater sources. I'm sad to see that it's the same issues across the ocean, but it's good to know there's people fighting to get the knowledge out there so we can start making real changes.

[@TheVeggiekat]

People forget 1970 wasn’t the first time Lake Erie caught fire. Fifty years later we’re waiting for it to happen again

[@c.a.greene8395]

In the 1990's persons living on Lake Ontario in the Toronto area found themselves no longer living near the shoreline and their dock completely dry... Thanks to Nestle on the USA side bottling water faster than the rain can replace it, shipping billions of litre in less than a decade to China alone has left those who once lived on the shoreline now 200 feet away... Greed and over use in the USA has polluted our water north of the boarder...lake Ontario is getting smaller...

[@Dojan5]

I'd like to introduce to you; the Baltic sea. Slightly different story, some of the problems in our sea has arisen from overfishing, particularly throwing back fish that isn't legally allowed to be sold, some of it stems from sewage, the majority of it stems from agriculture. Same end result. Spectacular algae blooms, leaving a dead sea that's been choked out by decomposing biomatter.

[@gunners4129]

I live between Lake Erie PA and Chautauqua Lake in NY. Both have issues with it. 6 years in a row we arent allowed to swim in the lake. Thick green blue stinky sludge across the entire lake.

[@grapes4832]

I really wish land in north america was still maintained and controlled by indigenous people, these kinds of exploitative land use practices are bad for us long term

[@markbuchanan862]

This blue/green algae is in a lough local to me called "killyfole" and our kids would play in the water,. There are signs but they don't give enough information to warn people about how bad this stuff is. Brilliant video to spread awareness!

[@Aaron-zu3xn]

make your own signs and include mention of Anatoxin-a people will see this and they'll demand change because everyone has google and when you google that the effects are pretty freakin scary

[@redcruben]

I walk round killiyfole quite regularly it is a great facility, I Didn't realise it had the blue green algae and we take our dog with us

[@Slop_Dogg]

@@redcrubencareful! dont let the pup in the stuff. a friends german shepherd got very sick from even just a couple laps of the stuff. thankfully doing OK now.

[@vice.nor.virtue]

All of the transitions you do where you suddenly start filming in a new place are amazing! I particularly love how you jumped over that gate at 15:45 without even wasting a breath!

[@MichaelSimmons-ee4ib]

We have the same algae issue in the western basin of Lake Erie in Ohio, so bad that the city of Toledo’s water supply became toxic a few years ago, forcing them to upgrade their water purification systems. The biggest step here has been that advocacy groups have actually been able to get the same rights for the lake as a corporation or person, meaning Lake Erie can now sue farmers, businesses, and people who pollute the lake and its tributaries, which I think is incredibly clever and pretty cool.

[@ironhell813]

Except who represents the lake?

[@yorgivon-schmourgeussborgi]

​​@@ironhell813usually non profit environmental law entities that provide the lawyers and file the cases. The cool thing about environmental law and the defense of the environment, is that it is ALWAYS ethically and morally correct to do. You would be suprised how many lawyers volunteers to work cases to protect to environment. The question you should be asking is "Who would ever help a corporation destroy the planet?"

[@ironhell813]

@@yorgivon-schmourgeussborgi usually government that wants to make funding to preserve the place I. The first place… Often those environmental programs are actually paid for by the same people doing the polluting so the government sees it as a wash. It’s excessive costs in administering those funds that ends up killing the whole thing. Everyone ends up milking the funding (usually through surveys and assessments) and it usually dries up

[@logank444]

Remember in 2014 when no one could drink the water from these toxic blooms. However in the 70s it was a dead lake so it has recovered since then

[@davidcarrier9877]

Can we sue the geese and waterfowl that poop right into our water supply? I've done the math and the tonnage of phosphate rich goose poops alone, rivals agriculture and lawn care combined. Geese have very few natural predators.... other than in Springfield, Ohio.😮

[@le.jeff.dickey]

This is an outstanding piece of investigative journalism and you should be incredibly proud. I mean I can’t vouch for the veracity of any of it but nothing seems like a big leap. The part where you address the nuance around officials hesitant to litigate against farmers was particularly good. Hard to believe this is from the Irish running KZbinr I’ve watched over the years.

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks so much Jeff! 🙂 Been evolving the channel over the years and quite enjoy this kind of video although I wouldn’t make them very often. Too much work!

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks so much Jeff! 🙂 Been evolving the channel over the years and quite enjoy this kind of video although I wouldn’t make them very often. Too much work!

[@xcvcvcvvcvc9914]

Irish news media should be reformed completely. Great work.

[@lukie1235]

Some countries on the continent have started to separate sewage from rainwater so storms don’t dictate the quality of water in rivers anymore. It’s costly but a long term investment in the environment. Belgium is one of those countries.

[@aliceclarke9540]

Wow this is brilliant Stephen. I’m an ecologist and I’ve worked previously at Oxford Island but now work in the south where waterbodies, although not perfect, are substantially cleaner than in the north due to the higher protections and restrictions in the south. Thanks so much for raising awareness for this. It is so devastating that we’ve known this was coming and nobody has done anything about it.

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks Alice

[@ernststavroblofeld1961]

Does it smell? I'm not sure if I got that correctly?

[@cat8324]

I'm curious what you mean by higher protections? Especially because the thames catchment is so polluted

[@DarkVadekGaming]

@@cat8324 I assume they mean in the South of Ireland, not in England

[@aliceclarke9540]

@@cat8324 yep I meant Ireland

[@secondedgeblades]

I'm not sure why the algorithm fed me this but hey. As a Scot living in Canada that loves fishing and watersports the blue green algae has been appearing more in spots that would have never had this issue. It's frustrating. Nitrogen runoff from agriculture is the biggest player but the constant building of homes and developments doesn't help the runoff when it fills drains with construction debris. Regardless; I loved the video. It was well paced, well researched and compassionate. Keep on keeping up my celtic brother.

[@ironhell813]

Excessive nitrogen content from mychorrizae is the culprit. These farms produce far more than they should and it’s killing the land.

[@terryhoath1983]

If you don't want more building, then start campaigning to stop immigration and limit live births to two per woman. Human beings are uniquely (apart from blue-green algae, of course) fowling the nest for all other creatures. There are too many people in the World. Russia is showing us one way of reducing a country's population (Exporting citizens to be killed in Ukraine ... highly efficient). The Irish are the original fast breeder reactors exporting their offspring all over the World including Canada.

[@hollyuva6233]

Says you’re a member of

[@DS-lk3tx]

So how's your home? I'm sure you live in one. Can I as well? Or must the younger generation be sacrificed so you can keep doing what you've already done?

[@ElloLoJo]

I'm Irish and I didn't know about this. Shame on me but also shame on everyone that let this happen, and didn't make it headline news Thanks for your work

[@dr.sbrule5817]

Same thing in England with lake Windemere, i heard about it from an independent youtuber in a video just like this one. It wasnt until about a year later that I heard a peep about it on the news, even then it wasn't like it was a major story... 2 of the largest lakes in the Isles polluted to death, one of the worst ecological disasters in its history isn't news worthy I guess.

[@arandomcheese]

It made headline news last year, but was forgotten about after a week? I remember there was a special on it after the RTE news.

[@Eva12218]

It actually has made headline news quite regularly! I found out from watching the news

[@ferghalicious1480]

It was talked about up and down in the news. Have you opened a paper at all lately?

[@Juuythljgrrdwq]

government cover it up.

[@dianemarchant979]

Over 30 years ago my young daughter came out in a horrible rash after paddling to her knees in our local river. Only part of her body was where she was paddling. We did not see the blue/green algae but a couple of days later it was very noticeable . We no longer live in that State but it was something that happened from time to time and nobody seemed to worry about it. Thank you for giving us a lot of food for thought.

[@gkes4617]

Great piece of journalism Stephen, great in depth video that clearly shows the reasons and the consequences of water system mismanagment. Really grateful that you put so much effort into a video on such an important and interesting topic!

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks. I had no idea it would balloon into nearly a documentary. I had just planned a quick video 🙈

[@dermotoreilly9006]

Excellent video. I am always skeptical of You Tube "journalists", but this is an example of an independent journalist doing an excellent job.

[@babcockandbobbins]

The "Going for Growth" policy has done a huge amount of damage. They should be "Going for sustainability" and incentivising farmers to achieve that. Northern Ireland produces enough for 10 x the size of the population - no wonder they can't get rid of the sh*t. I know people that work in the civil service and have highlighted how sustainable practices could be brought in but obviously they've been ignored because it would impact the profit margin !

[@StephenJReid]

I had no idea that we used so little of what we produce until I started researching this. I do understand it though, we badly need industries here than can boost the economy. But it can’t be at any cost

[@RenegadeShepTheSpacer]

There's currently a movement within NICS, especially DfE, to move towards more sustainable practices and promote green jobs, but it's not enough. Nowhere near enough.

[@iian050]

@@StephenJReid Firstly, superb report. Genuinely 10/10 work. Secondly, worth looking at the make up of agricultural animals that produce the nasties. Compared to 25 years ago, cattle numbers are down just over 100,000, sheep are down approx 920,000. Pigs up 250,000 and poultry are up 10 Million, which are likely your biggest contributors, given their waste is much more potent (it's rocket fuel for grass / crops if you get it right) than cattle & sheep but fewer farms with bigger numbers. They're your real target in agriculture. The recent poisoning of 4 mile burn in Parkgate was caused by a hen litter handling mistake for example. Understand that you couldn't cover everything in making this, but I'd hate that people start looking directly at cows and sheep, when in reality, it's the housed animals (pigs and battery hens) who are making most potent slurry. One other aspect that I can't find much info on is AD plants, or bio digesters. Their slurry (or digestate) can be incredible fertiliser, but depends on what they're fed with.

[@johnmacward]

We could call for a sustainable socialist solution that has nothing to do with profit but just human and environmental need, meaning that if it was necessary to stop all dairy and cattle farming in that region for a decade or two, then so be it. That is LITERALLY the problem and that would LITERALLY be the solution. We could do with massively reducing our meat and dairy intake anyway (this is coming from a meat and dairy consumer who is trying to drastically reduce his intake).

[@babcockandbobbins]

@@johnmacward as a vegan im with you on that.

[@jacklandismusic]

We had an algal bloom in a canal near where I live (New Jersey, USA). I fish there all the time, folks kayak and canoe out there, and some folks who are down on their luck actually take fish from there as food (I never would, but only because I have the privilege not to need to). If I recall correctly, our algal bloom was caused by agricultural runoff-both livestock waste and chemical fertilizer flowed into the canal after a period of heavy rain. A government notice went out shortly after the algae began to explode that people in the area should avoid contact with the water, use extreme caution when fishing and boating, and under no circumstances harvest fish from the canal. That season, I decided to fish a river that runs parallel to the canal, rather than the canal itself (still very careful to wash my hands often, as the river and the canal are connected at a couple small points). Walking along the path, it looked like the canal had been dyed a dark teal. Nobody was out on kayaks, and nobody was fishing on that side of the path at all. Our local government actually did a great job handling the situation as it emerged, and it still took MONTHS to get the cyanobacteria under control. I can now safely fish from the canal again, and folks are back to boating on it. The ecosystem of the canal has, from my observations, seemingly bounced back pretty damn well. I say all this because I absolutely cannot imagine what a problem like that would be like on a decades-long scale like this. Our government caught it quick, and it still took a while to rectify the problem. I truly can’t fathom how much time, effort, money, and resources it will take to clean Lough Neagh. I applaud you for speaking about this, and for the very clear effort that went into all parts of this video. I hope this brings more attention to the issue, and I hope the Irish continue to (to echo William Rogers) “raise as big a stink as there is in that water”. I know government and industrial bureaucracy can complicate the everliving shit out of things, and I don’t anticipate any different in this situation. But I happen to know (based on my own local experience as well as a year studying ecology and environmental science) that this is a solvable problem, even in its currently catastrophic state. I just hope that the powers that be can all pull their heads out of their asses and instead put them together in an effort to come up with a workable solution.

[@lo2740]

it is always caused by excess of nutrients usually they come from overuse of fertilizers, but it can also come from pig industry.

[@JK4507]

"FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA..." We need to identify & stop the agents terrorizing our beautiful lakes & water supplies. In our communities.

[@Phil-oj5nr]

We have the same problem in New Zealand. Lots of our once pristine rivers and lakes are unsafe to swim in. Experts have told us if we start to clean this up it will be 40 to 60 years and even then it will not be like it was in the beginning. That is beyond half the populations lifetimes!

[@edeedoubleyou]

Try getting our super industrial farming industry to listen though.....i grew up in rural Canterbury and have watched the decline of these rivers over my life. Every single person involved in any form of farming strongly denys theres anything wrong with our rivers.

[@Lynette-sv3ti]

​@edeedoubleyou i lived in south island for 10years and the change in environment that i noticed actually gave me anxiety when I moved back to the north island I didnt want to go back to where I grew up, I was too scared to see the changes

[@junebrilly5302]

Im so pleased to have found your channel! As a lifelong member of "people who give a S**T" Ive been often brought to my knees by the grief of witnessing what is happening. Thankyou for your work!

[@luluobifish]

Commenting from usa dc!! This is devastating. Thank you for recording and investigating this topic! I hope some magical way to clean out the lake can be found… who knows. My heart goes out to all those affected.

[@Pjb93]

More informative, better-researched, and more important topics than anything BBC NI produces. Thanks for sharing 🙌

[@Heart-BasedLiving32-5]

I live in Killarney and one of the lakes in the Killarney National Park is being taken over with Vlue Green Algae. Many dogs who are walked in this area have been made very sick and died almost 24 hours from their time out on their walkies. It's a disgrace that our water is now so contaminated with this green sludge. Is there anyway this can be cleaned up?

[@tommyfanzfloppydisk]

yes it's possible, you just need to stop every pollution intake that is favourably affecting the algae and then keep it that way for 15-20 years while re-introducing animals and fishes, then it will be clean again. good luck in making it happen

[@Heart-BasedLiving32-5]

@tommyfanzfloppydisk that sounds like a huge task when our society is not all focused on making the water clean again. So many are focused on getting rid of waste in the easiest way possible. Makes me so sad when others have no regard for where their shit is going and how to stop this. In the Killarney National forest there is a water treatment plant and pipes running from the water to this plant. It is very visible and covert that they are possibly allowing septic feces into the lake. Not an easy task to get local government on board with a clean up when they are focused on making killarney look like a tidy town to draw more tourists. They literally have a tidy towns committee seems like we need a clean water committee too.

[@oscardalmatiner8724]

So that algae that produces toxins is naturally present in most lakes, the reason for the overgrowth or "bloom" are the vast amounts of nutrients introduced through animal feces from ranching operations and probably the warm weather. Can't do anything about the temperature, but you can certainly limit the amount of "fertilizer" ending up in rivers and therefore the lake, which should starve the majority of the algae. Afterwards those remains will take some time to rot away, but it is very much solvable. Of course that will require extensive government control, regulations and enforcement thereof

[@damionkeeling3103]

@@oscardalmatiner8724 When you consider how long farming has been going on in Ireland and this is a relatively recent problem then looking to what has changed is key. The original report stated that 80% of the pollution was coming from non-farm related industry and I bet that is still the primary cause. Farming pollution can be mitigated by planting crops that soak up excess nutrients and planting near waterways with species that will catch the nutrients before they reach the water. While a minor example I know someone who lives in a rural area and their water is providing by rain tanks which can hold around 30,000 litres. This person was having some construction work done and the builder was using water cooled cutting tools. He drained the water tank doing this much to the displeasure of my friend. Imagine the stuff the water used picked up from the construction site and then deposited downhill and that's one small construction job.

[@e.k.4508]

​@@oscardalmatiner8724 At 8:55 he starts to sum up the 7 factors that contributed to the pollution in this particular lake

[@danielvest9602]

This was something I'd never heard of and 20 minutes later I'm fascinated to find out how many other places have this issue.

[@StephenJReid]

Apparently quite a lot!

[@ddd-jl1ii]

turkey for example

[@willam1992]

@@ddd-jl1ii here in Australia and also in the usa this issue is actually global. even the reasons are the same

[@foilrider2000]

It's a problem in south Africa near sun city, warning signs, DON'T SWIM HERE.

[@model101t800]

Netherlands is a pfas pool

[@TheUllrichj]

Quite an incredible explanation of the conditions and causes. Thank you.

[@ellingeidbo8469]

Isn't it strange how we have a food shortage and a fertilizer surplus.

[@cshepard09]

not at all really. from the outside looking in (an american) you guys live on a tiny little island that isnt growing, yet the refugees keep pouring in... its a food crisis waiting to happen if Ireland is put in some situation where they could not import food (war)

[@absurdistsloth]

@@cshepard09 overpopulation or refugees are not the problem. in fact, our population is still recovering from the famine/genocide. we’ve needed a big investment into civil engineering issues like sewage management for a long time.

[@EbenBransome]

@@absurdistsloth Ireland supported more people when it wasn't using artificial fertiliser. Meanwhile Great Britain the island is only capable of supporting about 6 million people sustainably. Immigrants are not the problem, overpopulation dates back to the days of Imperial food imports. Same as Roman Empire, totally dependent on grain shipments from Egypt.

[@larkop6504]

Very few farm there own land for food anymore because it's not cost effective but also because we are incentivised not to. Tried telling family they haven't long to stock up but it's like talking to a brick. I now live in a population which is over a hundred times greater than northern Ireland and get fresh organic food every day.

[@boooomerwang]

@@absurdistsloth your country is underpopulated for sure, but the immigrants are doubling down the incompetency problem. From outside perspective, those aliens are making things worse.

[@GeorgePennock1]

Excellent piece of journalism Stephen. Answered a lot of questions I've been having lately. Hopefully this will raise awareness throughout the country. Everyone should like and share.

[@wicklowmountains8618]

What about Geo Engineering ?

[@jimbean1371]

I just came across your channel… this was the second video I watched in fact, and for you to say it isn’t your usual kind of content speaks volumes for just how good of a job you done on this. Like seriously, this is an incredibly informative, thought provoking and incredibly well executed video considering it isn’t your usual style. I really hope you’re considering making more types of videos like this as it would be a shame for you not to explore this. Great work, will watch more regardless.

[@isa_well...]

Thank you so much for talking about this. I am from Germany, and we have been working to protect the ponds in our town from being built over. Your documentary made me emotional. Well done. Water is so important.

[@russellpengilley5924]

That's interesting, with Germany's population peaking or already peaked I thought that pressure on land for building would be low.

[@isa_well...]

But we also have many floods here, and ponds and lakes serve as water reservoirs and buffers that protect against flooding.

[@AzuraTarot]

Germany is building like crazy to accomodate the exponential population growth.

[@cshepard09]

@@russellpengilley5924 the German native population has peaked... middle eastern and African refugees invade the country every day in mass amounts, just as they do every other leftist EU country

[@christopheredwards7409]

I did a study in college on zebra mussel impact on a great lake in the U.S. and they have more of an impact than just cleaning the water. Unfortunately they also filter said cyanobacteria you're talking about, intaking those toxins which then cycle up in the food ladder when gobies consume those mussels. The gobies are then eaten and the cycle continues upward to bigger fish and eventually people, birds, and other wildlife that eat those fish.

[@bbjunkie]

Something that made me wonder what exact effect the Zebra Mussels had, this algae is also present in waterways that do not contain them.

[@95percentair]

Bioaaccumulation. Great comment tks. I remember when the zebra mussels arrived in the midwest. It was a huge deal immediately to make sure your boats were clean. Funny he called it a "russian invasion." The lough was primed for this to happen, what a sad story.

[@gampie13]

it's the same problem with why most fish farms are a toxic waste pool. Since most fish feed is made from "pulp", and you don't need to give any info on what is in pulp. So you get toxic fish from the Baltic sea, that is unfit for eating without being poisoned. That fish is then sold as material for pulp, which then get's used as feed for shish farms. A tip to any one whom want to eat Norwegian fish: NEVER eat fish farm fish, or any fish that comes from their surroundings, it's Norway's most toxic food, and is around top 10 most toxic "food" in the world

[@Xizario2]

Cyanobacteria itself is not toxic. It is also called Spirulina and people actualy eat it after drying. It is also used for animal feed. Yes the mussels and all kind of organisms including fry fish also eat it and no they are not accumulating toxins by default. Cyanobacteria is essential for life on earth it is the absolute base in the food chain, absorbs co2, releases oxygen. The toxins that accomulate in the chain are coming from other sources like e.coli and poop and decaying matter, and mostly industrial waste.

[@BaronBacon1]

I live right on the edge of lough beg, glad to see people learning about this. Everything’s being ruined here

[@HoganBass]

Thanks for the great video, watching it gave me the nudge to get back into working in environmental science. I applied for a job 2 weeks ago, right after closing this tab, and I'm starting in a microbiological environmental testing lab tomorrow morning.

[@talltom1129]

I live outside of Detroit, Michigan, USA. All of this sounds hauntingly familiar. My only take on it is, follow the money. Who benefits if everyone sits on their hands? I know it ain't me.....

[@ryaneylee]

The problem of (deteriorating or nonexistent) water quality is already quite well known within UK (it makes headlines every few months) and to some extent internationally (when there's international aquatic sports events) due to the privatization of water companies, allowing them to freely discharge sewage into rivers and lakes, disempowering the water regulator, and tearing up the EU rulebook (including on environmental protections) after Brexit, under the Conservative governments of the past.

[@adamostman3509]

@@ryaneyleeThis is pretty much a problem everywhere and is made worse by every year becoming warmer and warmer.

[@jayleeper1512]

In the US, rivers used to spontaneously burst into flame from from the toxic soup of chemicals flowing into them. Over the past eight years, the EPA, the agency that is in place to protect us from this, has been completely gutted by politicians and their corporate lobbyists. It is only a matter of time until American water ways look like this. In fact, many already do.

[@Trogdor1365]

Michigan also has the problem that Nestlé pumps your water bodies into extinction. I don't buy anything that Nestlé sells, and i wish more people would protest with their wallets.

[@TessHKM]

The local farmers, didn't you watch the video?

[@klashnacovak47]

It's crazy as water is the most important resource we got and a lot of countries management of this vital resource is poor. Great video

[@kiritomato2312]

The Management is not poor but the water companies care more about their bottled water. Less fresh water = more bottled water= more sales. Every other source a zivilian can get is an enemy for the water companies.

[@cait8480]

hey from across the way. i’m over in atlantic canada and we’ve also seen a massive surge in toxic algae blooms in recent years. much of it is caused from poor environmental regulation and infrastructure failures, but also (you guessed it) climate change accelerating the conditions that lead to these sorts of mega-blooms happening and for longer. i hope action is taken soon to protect your water supply, it’s a beautiful lake and the people deserve to be able enjoy the benefits of it within our lifetimes.

[@kes9612]

No such thing as climate change, it's a rich mans trick. We have "seasons" for everything and that includes the earth, with intermittent fluctuations of grand solar minimums, maximums et alt (too cold-too hot) but most of our problems are due to man and I don't mean you&i. I mean the 1% which holds 3\4ths of the worlds money&trade that pollute our earth. They are in every country, doing the same thing, it has absolutely nothing to do with or almost minimal impact as far as our normal citizenry. It's not the people that are causing "climate change" it's the 1 percenters and the little that we do recyling, composting etc are just a drop in the bucket compared to them. the same goes for our "polluting" aka using landfills, buying these products that wreak havoc on environments and the products themselves manufactured by the elite ((1%ers). "Climate change" is a lie that the rich man sells&when you figure that out the world doesn't seem so gloomy because it's not our fault but it is our job to STOP these big corporations from wasting our waterways, soil etc and creating hell on earth; it's our job to stand up and fight the corrupt for our lands, livelihood, and our panet!!!!

[@timford112]

Outstanding work Stephen. I have been an environmental scientist for all my career and am now retired to Northern Ireland. I wish I had had this video for my students when I taught water and health at a number of different Universities In the US - this is very clear, well explained and the science is thorough. For context, I founded the program in water and health at Harvard back in the early 1990s and was also a founding member of the Center for Health and the Human Environment at Harvard around the same time - we were discussing cyanobacterial blooms back then, although I had no idea how serious the issue was to become with Lough Neagh.

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks very much! High praise indeed. Aware I’m missing detail in places but did my best to stick to published information. I did once want to be a teacher, never happened but getting the chance now with KZbin. That’s very cool it’s your specialist area.

[@timford112]

@@StephenJReidI’m living in Strangford. Let me know if you’re ever in the village and we can discuss environmental health over a beer!

[@anthonymagill3714]

This video should be shown on main TV to bring this shambles to the public notice

[@sneedfest3399]

In a more civilised time, landowners and politicians would be fearing for their lives until this issue was resolved.

[@Shmooper_Dooper]

more civilized? I don’t think so, not that I don’t disagree with the sentiment

[@HetTheWitch]

@@Shmooper_DooperHolding those in power accountable for their abuse of such power is the most basic expectation one should have for a civilized society. Allowing your people and your land to be poisoned due to incompetence and apathy while in a position of power is a betrayal of that land and its people. The crime of treason is a serious matter, and in a more civilized age, the price of such a crime would be high. Rather than this rat hole of a society where traitors, incompetents, and the greedy/corrupt are allowed to destroy everything that we hold dear and get away with it scot free. That’s dystopian and grotesque. Civility is not the same as complacency or etiquette, it’s the rules and behaviors which define proper societal function. If one poisoned your land, you would rightfully want a solution as well as adequate compensation. These miserable reprobates who are allowed to trample on what should be protected, in a more civilized age, would indeed fear for their insignificant worthless lives until a solution was found.

[@fredEVOIX]

@@Shmooper_Dooper criminals running free and destroying everything for greed is not civilized it's mad max except instead of hockey masks the savages have tailored suits

[@lillidaisyASMR]

@@Shmooper_Dooper😢

[@lillidaisyASMR]

Don’t people care to not live in disgusting filth 😢

[@peakandpaddleuk]

So sad to see this. I was actually kayaking along that exact stretch back in March and it was totally fine at the time. The pollution of the UK’s waterways and water bodies is an absolute scandal that seems to be going under the radar all too frequently. Good on you for bringing attention to it.

[@StephenJReid]

Yeah it was fine this year up until about mid June when the algae really started building up

[@shezmu24]

I've got a little (emphasis on little) knowledge on planktonic blooms, but still more than the average joe, and I think you covered the topic quite well! You were also pretty clear at presenting your personal biases and trying to keep them in mind which I really appreciated. I used to live in northern California near the lake Tahoe area which has begun to see the effects of nutrient buildup leading to high levels of phytoplankton and its turned crystal clear waters you could see hundreds of feet down to almost the bottom into an increasingly hazy soup. Its been horrible to see but one positive is that there does seem to be more being done about it now that the problem is becoming clear and could be reversed with the right actions being taken , I hope the same can be said of Lough Neagh soon!

[@pplzprincess]

Kent dweller here - I had no idea about any of this, blue-green algae is SO dangerous and I'm so appalled to hear about how bad it is with you guys. Will share far and wide. Thank you for telling the story!

[@ForkRat]

I live on a ship in the Netherlands, we see this stuff a lot, it appears every summer in almost all of the local swimmingspots. People know it's name (blauwalg in Dutch, translates to blue algae) but i rarely run into people who actually know what it is or what it looks like. Still i hear of at least three dogs every year that died around me because owners failed to recognise it. The only ones spreading awareness about this stuff are watermen and parkrangers. Though I do feel it's taken a bit more seriously here, considering where there's water on a hot day, there's at least an army of kids playing in it.

[@clararawr8177]

This is the first time I understood that water being too clear (zebra mussles) and with too many nutrients is a problem. Clear and full of nutrients seems like exactly what you'd want. I didn't imagine it could result in this 😮

[@dvvass]

Hes lying. Its from farm runoff.

[@th4tw3irdg1rl]

​@@dvvassdid you watch the video? He spends half of it taking about farm runoff and deliberate illegal dumping from those farms. The structure of the video puts the lesser causes first. It's not a lie to say that clearer water contributes to algae and bacteria growth. Clear water lets more sunlight penetrate deeper into the lake, not only supplying the blue green algae the light it needs to grow, but also warming up the water, encouraging more and larger colonies to grow as well. If you somehow got rid of the mussels, you wouldn't solve the problem of the water contamination from the farms, but it would be one step in mitigating the massive colonies of algae. That said, it is far easier to regulate and prosecute the farm waste issue than try to get rid of the mussels.

[@dodopson3211]

​@@dvvasshe is not lying and a Google search with both organisms would have told you so. There are studies that indicate"researchers discovered during a long-term study that zebra mussels can actually increase Microcystis, a type of phytoplankton known as “blue-green algae” or cyanobacteria, that forms harmful floating blooms. " The article also explains that it is probably because the mussels spit out the cyanobacteria as they're unpalatable but they probably do eat the competition.

[@HaizeyWings]

One important thing I've learned from naturalistic aquarium keeping is that the ecosystems that form bodies of water are miraculous balancing acts that can be thrown off easily with the slightest parameter change. Luckily, if they're healthy, they balance themselves out perfectly for the most part when humans don't touch them. Excess nutrients are a huge factor in unbalancing the aquatic ecosystem, however they came about, and as he mentioned, the zebra mussels allowing more sunlight to penetrate the water for bacteria to grow is an important piece of the puzzle. Even if your water is crystal clear and beautiful, if there are too many nutrients for aquatic plants to consume, this leaves a tonne of food for algae and bacteria to eat and proliferate out of control. There's nothing to outcompete them. Thus resulting in the enormous bacteria bloom we see here. Even I've had to deal with cyanobacteria in my aquarium because of clear water and excess nutrients.

[@MademoiselleNature]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@dvvassCan you elaborate on why he’s lying? From my understanding, farm runoff is one of the sources of nutrient excess.

[@Zangetsu789ify]

Wouldn't walk into that even with boots. might unexpectedly sink more than you expect and get yourself stuck or fall. that was me with mud - it was softer than I expected, enveloped me to the knee and had to struggle to break free. that humbled me and I learned my lesson. that concoction is scary.

[@StephenJReid]

I tested the depth first with a safety stick

[@Rationalskeptic49]

Thanks Stephen, for highlighting this awful problem. So many similarities to the water pollution problems in England. Make the polluter pay, seems to be the answer, but as you show we are all polluters either directly or indirectly, and it's a complicated issue that isn't being properly addressed by the public or politicians. But you are at least trying to make a difference.

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks, no quick solutions. It’ll all take time

[@DR3ADER1]

@@StephenJReid Not really, in many cases, such as Lough Neagh, it's too late. And we have to live with our mistakes. Life and history tends to do that.

[@mememaster695]

Polluters in the UK get off scot-free no matter what. The courts don't care, the government doesn't care, nobody with any power cares. You can dump raw sewage wherever you like, leak hazardous chemicals into the environment, ignore any and all environmental safety standards, and all you'll get is a £100,000 fine and a stern warning not to do it again. I went to law school, and they told us straight up that the courts don't want to do anything about pollution and that companies will frequently pollute because preventing pollution costs more than paying the fines. It's ridiculous.

[@zawbones5198]

@@DR3ADER140 years is 40 years, it’s not an impossibly long time

[@Dreyno]

That’s so sad. From south of the border but spent a lot of time on the shores of Lough Neagh because relatives lived there. Happy memories of wandering around Oxford Island etc.

[@jennoq1311]

This is so sad. I'm on the East coast but it's red tide here that's killing the west coast of Florida. Fertilizer run off and who knows what else flowing into the gulf. That with increasing temperatures it's only going to get worse. The coral is dying in massive amounts and swordfish are going crazy. The manatees natural food source is disappearing at an alarming rate. And they just keep approving more and larger developments. I don't think another golf course, shopping center, or 3000+ home housing development will solve this problem. It's truly heartbreaking.

[@catherinemcdonnell9161]

Athlone, Ireland. My friend visiting Florida got sick from Red Bloom. Never went back again. So sad that things that were a, thing of joy, health and beauty for all are being destroyed.

[@Slaking_]

Depressing like, ain't it? Beautiful world we've been given and some are intent on destroying it so a meaningless red line on a graph goes up. It's an absolute travesty, and it's a shame those responsible will die free, rich, and fat while thousands are starving, sick, and poor because of them

[@franciasii2435]

"Only when every river is drained, every tree is cut down, and every edible plant and animal is dead, will people realize you can't eat money."

[@feuerling]

​@@franciasii2435 tragically, the people who have all the money would be able to buy the tech necessary to prolong their existence even if everyone else dies. So they wouldn't learn anything.

[@emsou9822]

In addition, redirecting our natural water ways (specifically okeechobee) and destroying natural nutrient sinks every year has slowly but surely had red tide creeping further up the coast every season with worsening health impacts over the last several decades. And now with desantis (thankfully retracted) threatening to further develop our state parks for pickleball courts…. we know this problem is only going to continue getting worse. There is very little faith in government oversight for the protection of our natural resources, i only see local communities and organizations having actual positive impacts on these crises.

[@samlindsey8978]

One idea that might help get the nutrients down faster (and this is more a thing to look into as a potentially helpful thing than me attempting to stand on a soap box from across the pond) would be introducing other microbiota (mostly other bacteria) that would be native (or close to native) that are not generally toxic to help out-compete the blue-green algae in the water by eating more of those nutrients from other places in the water column as many of those other bacteria do not use photosynthesis. This idea comes from both fishkeeping, my personal non-professional research into keeping an outdoor pond and some research I did years ago on improving water quality in ponds and lakes using chemicals vs. bacteria. The little mico-biota options did a pretty good job of eating up the phosphates in my tiny little science fair study - and I believe there have been much better, much bigger studies in a similar direction where you might be able to find which species would be most beneficial in this situation and what kinds of permits and such you would need to introduce them (if legal to do so at all - I am not even remotely familiar with Irish law). In a lot of ways, the idea here would be artificially boosting native competitors to the blue-green algae to try and rebalance the micro-biome there at least a little. If anyone else has more information on that kind of thing - or the resources at hand for them please leave them somewhere here in the comments!

[@lis7742]

It really is that simple. But unfortunately, it's not important enough for the government.

[@madmoo8836]

Thanks for making this video, I spend my working life testing for blue green algae and its a problem that is getting worse across the whole UK

[@StephenJReid]

Is there a common cause?

[@madmoo8836]

@@StephenJReid from what ive been seeing each location has its own cause but all are due to one or more of the reasons you pointed out. Effluent discharge, farming practices, but the main one is temperature. Bacteria need three things to live, food (phosphates), light and the right temperature. These sorts of bacteria really go into overdrive once waters hit 20c

[@JeneralMat-zp2ii]

Remember this guy is not suicidal

[@Benjamin-od8od]

Explain pls

[@willam1992]

@@Benjamin-od8od reference to one of the Boeing whistle blowers committing suicide despite expressly stating that if he dies he would never self terminate

[@jellophant9716]

​@@Benjamin-od8od reference to Boeing whistleblower conspiracy theories

[@ThatOneGuyWhoLostHisHandle]

@@jellophant9716 I mean, I almost never subscribed to conspiracy theories. But when the dude expressly says, he’d never kill himself as he’s blowing the whistle and then suddenly kills himself. It’s kind of hard to call that conspiracy, it’s pretty obvious what it really is…

[@saltiestsiren]

Well, that we know of. You really can't just assume so. But I get what you're saying 😂

[@goatyqt4553]

I’m from Québec and we’re one of the places with the highest amount of lakes in the world. Blue algae is also a problem here, especially in the southern, hotter parts of the territory. It’s not just Ireland, the whole planet’s lakes are steadily dying out because of phosphorus. If I remember correctly, some efforts are being made to save these lakes, but it’s not enough at the current pace.

[@PatG-xd8qn]

To add to your comment, we do have laws in Québec that, if applied, would reduce drastically the amount of phosphorus that end up in our lakes and rivers. It's called the "PPRLPI" But no one makes sure that these laws are respected. Such laws mostly include that nothing should be constructed and no vegetation should be cut up to a certain distance from any body of water But homes and agricultural land are still being constructed right next to lakes and rivers everywhere in the province. Municipalities don't care about the law ans still give construction permits in these areas Fun fact: In Lake Champlain, Vermont imposed strict laws to reduce the amount of phosphorus that goes into the lake. But in Québec's part, nothing is done. Yet, in surveys, Québec's residents who live around Lake Champlain blame the Americans for the blue alguaes in the lake, while the problem mostly comes from their own grass yards on the shores of the lake....

[@KristiStClair64]

Here in Northern NY, blue green algae is a massive issue as well. With all the farmland and zebra mussels everywhere, I would not be surprised to hear of dead Zones in the Adirondacks and St. Lawrence River in he near future.

[@DarkAngelEU]

The power lies with us. Stop eating meat and dairy so they have to produce less while lobbying against this kind of preposterous vandalism.

[@davidrowley-ic6dx]

I truly wish to thank you for making this. It is an extremely powerful piece that needs to be heard and seen and shared. It has particular significance to me as a resident in Somerset where we have also been suffering from major Phosphate issues on the Somerset Levels. In a similar case to the one you describe, the problem is a combined impact of agricultural run-off into the rivers along with significant levels of sewage discharge (as I understand things, pretty much every time it rains). The River Brue has historically been a popular place for fishing, but I certainly wouldn’t want to eat anything caught in it these days … assuming you’ll find anything to catch. Not many years ago, it was full of fish, there were signs of Otter repopulating the river and you would often see a wide range of typical birdlife, including Kingfisher. Not much sign of life now. Last year we heard the good news that one significant source of Phosphate was removed when a pig farm ceased operation. However, this immediately was followed by announcement of pending housing developments suddenly being approved as the previous hold due to high Phosphate levels was suddenly mitigated by the closure of the pig farm. So the status quo is maintained and the local authority can make positive reporting to central government on getting increased housing in the region they’re being pressured for. Meanwhile, we still enjoy the waft of slurry spread upon the water meadows and the unappealing appearance of the river water thanks to the discharge whenever it rains. Ohhhh … the idyllic pleasures of rural life 😢

[@paulkennedy5021]

Complicated story well told Stephen. People anywhere else wouldn’t believe that in western Europe a country has allowed this to happen to their drinking water. Excellent video brother.

[@k.i.g39]

Now this is journalism, fantastic video and far more informative than the mainstream news

[@TheQzak]

Stephen, fantastic work! Well done for highlighting it!

[@StephenJReid]

Thanks 🙂

[@KJM_Writes]

Thanks, Stephen! This isn’t the sort of thing that I normally watch on KZbin but I thought this was really interesting and I think it gives a really balanced and thorough view of the problem. I look forward to the follow up.

[@iRunfastXC]

Don’t apologize for making this video, it’s important. I also think it matches your content perfectly. We’ve been dealing with similar issues in Utah lake for generations.

[@idadood2278]

0:15 I'm no expert on stuff like this, but I think the appropriate wording here is that that's the _best_ case scenario.

[@twisted_witch]

That's a big old patch of Japanese Knotweed beside him at 4.00, typical that it hasn't been killed off.

[@SorbusAvery]

Good catch, might want to message him. It seems like he cares.

[@MrDT82]

Probably Himalayan Balsam

[@gaz8891]

I thought that's what it was!

[@e.k.4508]

I've seen loads of them in the north of France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and of course in my home country the Netherlands. It's only taken care of by a few authorities.

[@GamerModz123]

I Lived near one of the most polluted lakes in the US, Lake Onondaga, and we used to tell stories about mutated fish 😂 You were actually banned from doing certain things near it and I've been stopped by the police multiple times who thought we were going to try and swim or to remind us that we can't eat the fish there. We've been cleaning it for like the last 20 years. It has all kinds of terrible stuff in it, but holy cow, this looks infinitely worse.

[@lachlanwalmsley9013]

People like you are what gives me hope for the future. An honest and truthful man

[@ST_GLN_glenn]

Great to see "one of us" locals bringing attention to this, not to mention the fantastic production quality. Great video!

[@RichardHead420]

It was the alge. If you can smell it, you're definitely breathing it.

[@StephenJReid]

that is a very good point!

[@kes9612]

If you can smell it, you're consuming it!!!! That's always been my rule of thumb whether it's a fart or a skunk, molecular components of it are entering your lungs via your nose, just the same as if you ate it!!! Same difference, if it smells and is toxic then run!!!!

[@mugogrog]

Most of smells come from gasses released but never hurts to be carefull.

[@daleolson3506]

Kill the music👎👎👎👎💩💩

[@danieljung2810]

Algae is not bad bacteria by itself, Algae cleans the water when there is a lot of decay. Im not sure if blue green algae is poisonous or the stuff its surrounded by or growing it. It's like the plants growing in fertilizer aka poop. Algae in general doesn't smell bad itself, the stuff it grows in does, just like all plants we eat.

[@garymcmeekin385]

I posted this on Mastodon. When I visited NI in July, I listened to an hour-long radio show that discussed this disaster. I was happy to see this video and could see it with my own eyes.

[@awakeningoflink9055]

Thanks for bringing this up, it's always nice to see that someone took the time for doing some research and go deep down the rabbit hole. Keep up the good work, maybe one day politicians will hear us 🤞

[@MancAlB]

Tragedy of the commons on an enormous scale. Brilliant reporting and investigation. Subscribed!

[@milshubra]

A tragedy for all, I am from Serbia and I see this as a tragedy for human kind.

[@marymegrant9438]

​@@milshubra"Tragedy of the Commons" refers to a specific type of situation. It comes from a 1968 article by Garrett Hardin. You are right, it is tragic for everyone. However, without any other action, the resource will continue to be degraded because each user acting individually profits from maximizing their own use, so there is no incentive for the individual user to decrease their own use.

[@kevdev7]

How is it that one little KZbin channel can uncover more about this disaster than the recent documentary by UTV, (N.Ireland's local television station) ? Thank you and great work Stephen.

[@irestar6]

I know quite a bit of history on this as my father was in charge of the borough for the Water Service up until he retired in the mid 2000s. We lived in the Roe Valley and when my father started in this higher status role, the first thing he did was start to measure the effluent pollution in the Roe and in his time brought it from highly polluted to 90% under the allowed amount of pollution. Since he retired it's now incredibly polluted again. We were never allowed to swim in the Roe. At Downhill Beach, we were never allowed to play in the two large streams or the small ones, as my father knew that raw sewage was being pumped into those streams. It's why Benone has had a Blue Flag and kept it so long, thank my dad for that! And when they were building all the new housing estates and the by-pass my father fought to put in the required sized pipes for waste water and regular drinking water, and he actually saved several hundred million by fighting to have these put in, as he was part of planning meetings as well and could see what would be needed 50 years after this point, making sure that Limavady was properly catered for on this front at least. He might be a good person to talk to about all this, as the among of behind the scenes information he has on all of this is worth listening to. I know that we spent most of our childhoods at Benone and as adults we're proud of our local beach and when we go down, even just for a walk, I take a black bin liner with us and we fill it up with rubbish. Recycle what we can. More people need to remember that explore but leave no trace. I also have seen a very large increase in trash on the beach since our boom of tourism. If you would be interested in speaking to me or my dad please let me know as he may be able to give you even more information and the many other fights he had to keep our water clean and our beaches safe for everyone now and in the future.

[@sierrasukalski2133]

Sounds pretty interesting! I feel like so many of these stories have decades of petty scrambling for power and resources behind them, and they get picked up by someone fresh to everything, speaking on the latest effects. It's good to get the story out there, but in my personal opinion, nothing would beat the few who gave a * laying out the landscape, one more time, and this time, finally getting some support. Also, I think it leads to less naïveté, which tends to turn into fighting the same battles, the same way, to the same disappointing stand stills for forseeable future.

[@geneticallyengineeredcatgirl]

Here in Australia the Irish are pissing on my flowers after going to the pub every night

[@sierrasukalski2133]

​@@geneticallyengineeredcatgirlI'm sorry to hear that. That's disgusting and rude. You might like to know that a ten to one solution of water to urine is a fairly good fertilizer for certain things. Drowning your flowers probably isn't any sort of a solution though. You know, once, long ago, I was looking at waterproofing for a sheepskin, and I came across this product called liquiproof. Turns out, people in the UK local government in places, had worked with the company to set this stuff on the concrete and walls outside pubs so urine would wash down into the storm gutter. A rinse, and everything would be gone. I wonder if you might be able to employ a hostile pee shield of sorts. Not that I have much experience proofing against inebriated humans. Sounds disheartening.

[@irestar6]

@@sierrasukalski2133 My father was like the one good man a lot of the time. If you do a job you do it right. You never ask someone else to do a job that you would not do yourself. And the Water Service, they tried to force my father to join the Masons. He refused as he said he wasn't going to give someone a job based on a funny handshake, and not their ability to do the work. So therefore here in the NW, everyone knew that he was a fair man, he hired the best person for the job, and did not take into account religion at any point. And he faced a lot of bullying from the higher ups for that too. He made everything so much better, he was just one man doing his job and having the ability to make things better, and then actually fighting for it for everyone. Very few like him exist here. And he is devout in his religion. And I'm guessing that the person who took over from my father didn't care like he did.

[@irestar6]

@@geneticallyengineeredcatgirl Are they actually Irish? Or are like the americans who claim to be Irish, but have been in the US for the couple of hundred years. As they tend to be annoying. I'm very sorry that people are peeing on your plants, that is just so rude, and certainly hot how we were brought up to act. Also we're not at pubs every night either here in Ireland. We certainly have a drinking culture but certainly in my experience, we're going out for entertainment as well, like a live band etc... We won't head to the pub until about 10pm at night. And home by 3 or 4am when the band stops. So we pace ourselves. Also, I would never come home to my parents house drunk. The only night I was given a pass on this was my 18 birthday. And that night I had most of a magnum bottle champagne as no one else liked it. Half a bottle of Bushmills 10 year single malt, half a bottle of peach schnapps and half a bottle of Goldschlager. I still walked in, able to walk back in the house and wasn't sick. Although once, i did have to take a pee behind a rock on the beach as I was 7 months pregnant at the time and would never have made it back the mile to the public toilets. I feel like I get a pass on that one. And the sea would come in and wash it away.

[@wherzmaslipperz3111]

Excellent video.....lets keep the pressure on to keep Lough Neagh and its shores free from this poisoning. Our rivers also! It's a disgrace how these things are allowed to happen. Respect to Feargal Sharkey, who has been highlighting this for years. Everyone needs to get on board

[@Astrodexterous]

Wonderful video and a terrible tragedy. My dad used to work at the Oxford Island discovery centre when I was a kid. Lough Neagh was very important to both of us. I visited the centre recently and it’s a shadow of its former self. Heartbreaking.

[@joecarey7123]

Thanks for this. I live close to the lough and appreciate a thoughful, insightful look at this disaster. I see some commentators picking on small points, where you have addressed the big ones. A sobering piece of journalism.

[@squidwurf]

I was going to mention to youbabout wading about in it. Last year I started to feel ill after walking /cycling by the shore a lot last year. Once it kicked off again this year, i just stayed away. 😔 Great piece of work Stephen. Thank you for making it.

[@CharliePayne1]

I love how they are using mushrooms to clean up oil spills, I wonder if they could help this clear up

[@JohnCrofton]

You're a true legend brother thank you for taking the time to expose this catastrophe

[@joeledj]

I knew there was a problem with algae blooms in the Lough but never realised quite how bad it is.

[@fundthenine]

This is a superb video on the topic. It is an absolutely rage enducing situation, and the fact that our government have done everything they can to essentially avoid taking meaningful action in the past is a crime against the environment.

[@MoonbeamGardener]

This video was recommended to me by KZbin, and while I'm an ocean away from where you are, I'm glad you've taken the time to make this video and raise awareness to this problem.

[@defnotanny]

Respect for the fence hop at 15:45!

[@2009jonb]

I watched that Lep 6 times

[@86XFA]

How did I know greed and lack of funding would be included in the reasons this has happened again?

[@netizen_a]

All the sweet water in the Netherlands is like that. To remedy the damage a type of pond weed was introduced. It is very tall and strong and unless it is mowed it makes sailing very difficult. And the poisonous algae still occur early in the season.

[@Catwomen4512]

It's also because of the farmers, the water is just too nutrient rich

[@netizen_a]

@@Catwomen4512 very true here and all of the manure.

[@gaz8891]

That's interesting. Yours is a very densely populated country and you have a lot of intensive livestock farming as well, I suppose, meaning dairy, pigs and poultry.

[@Catwomen4512]

@@gaz8891 Yes definitely. Despite the tiny size of this country we are fourth largest exporters in the world. The agriculture is extremely efficient, and extremely damaging.

[@JeffBilkins]

I'm not your normal audience but the algorithm knows your environmental awareness videos are really good. The script, location work and production are top notch and really tell the story.

[@themixeurgaming5201]

Sir, this matters. What you have done matters. You did the work, you told people what happened. Few peoples in their lifetime would have the impact you just had. I will be more aware of my impact on the environment because of you. Thank you very much

[@gaz8891]

Yes, great comment.

[@helenjohnston3178]

I wish my countrymen would stop voting based on events in the 1600s & vote on issues like this & education & health!

[@user-zu6qn9ux9n]

😂😂 not gonna happen

[@Zappy9518]

@@helenjohnston3178 that day is coming.

[@ivermektin6874]

Not enough people passing primary school education levels for that to happen.

[@richbob9155]

all it took was the joint hatred of muslims to bring the catholics and protestants together lol.

[@sBaum]

Well put and well said Helen! Good luck with all that..

[@timcutbush]

Hi Stephen, wow an incredibly well crafted video, informative, highlighting an issue that exists in many more lakes and resevoirs across the UK.

[@GoingToBeWild]

Its an interesting subject that generally is only covered with beach closures blamed on blue-green algae, the aspect that is not covered is bio-accumulation, toxins that cyanobacteria produce do not simply disappears... they accumulate in life forms that live, eat & drink in this water, the further up the food chain the more bio-accumulation of toxins. The toxins do not stay in the lakes and river that water eventually end up in the water table, which many farmers use for irrigation of crops or drinking water for live stock and there no testing for cyanobacteria toxins in food... It stupid because its easy to compost animal &:human waste rendering it harmless to the environment while creating energy in the process