Green Olympics: Algae threatens sailing venue
Friday, 4th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Where is this guy going to swim?
The Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao is threatened by huge algae blooms, and China is throwing huge resources behind correcting the problem.
According to this Reuters report, the algae has invaded one third of the sailing site, and 10,000 people and 1,200 vessels have been enlisted to clean it up. According to Xinhua, 170,000 tons of algae have already been removed.
"It has appeared in patches about the size of football pitches which are impossible to sail through," Olympic sailing medalist Iain Percy told the UK's Times Online. "How the organizers are going to be able to set a mile-long sailing course is a real concern."
The same Times Online story also says that organizers have set a cleanup deadline of July 15.
Image: Reuters
Tags: environment, Qingdao, sailing