Has anyone gotten sick recently from the water in Catalina?
My partner and I took a trip to snorkel in Catalina for two days (6/28-6/29). When we got out to Casino Point, there was all this brown foam floating on the water. There were still a ton of people swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving, and one of the scuba guys told us “Oh it’s just from the kelp”.
Well after snorkeling and kayaking for 5 hours, we went back to our campsite to rest. While sleeping, I started to get an extremely painful post-nasal drip. And when I woke up, the back of my throat and my sinuses BURNED. Like, extreme pain. My partner, who snorkeled less, still showed early symptoms as well.
We ended up having to leave on an earlier ferry and cancel our day 2 snorkeling because I was so ill. My doctor ended up diagnosing me with HAB (Harmful Algae Bloom) Poisoning.
But there were NO signs, NO warnings, NO advisories about the algae. I even tried my best to stay out of it but still got extremely ill. Has anyone experienced this from Catalina recently? If this is happening to more people, they need to let swimmers know the water is toxic.
- - - NEW UPDATE - - -
I got a call from a doctor at the Water Control board. She asked me about what I had witnessed and my symptoms, and confirmed they are consistent with irritation from the chemicals that Dinoflagellates create during an algae bloom.
She said that they usually test for plankton levels along the coast of cali once a week with a net, but that Catalina does NOT have such regular testing, and that the state will only do this test when there are reports like mine.
So they’re going to test the water now and report the findings, then determine what action will be taken with the results.
If anyone else has gotten sick, I definitely recommend making a report as well. And because the burning and cold-like symptoms are related to irritation, they suggest taking antihistamines like Zyrtec or Benadryl to reduce inflammation.