Concerning discovery at Worthing beauty spot sparks council statement

Visitors to Brooklands Park may have noticed blooms of algae covering ‘some of the lake’s surface’, Worthing Borough Council said.

Its social media statement added: “While much of the algae has now naturally cleared, we want to reassure you that our teams are closely monitoring the situation and are confident that the lake’s fish and wildlife are not at risk.

“Algae blooms are a natural growth and common on bodies of stationary water. At Brooklands, blooms can occur during warm, settled weather with little rain, as the flow of the lake is primarily determined by rainfall.

“A lake the size of Brooklands can deal with a medium-sized bloom and still have sufficient oxygen and sunlight for its wildlife, with the support of the aeration windmills at the lake.”

The council said staff will ‘continue monitoring’ the lake and its systems over the summer to ‘ensure wildlife is not at risk’ and that any algae blooms have the ‘best chance of being naturally removed’.

The statement added: “In the meantime, please help us manage the algae by not throwing food into the lake for its various inhabitants.

"Once soaked, food such as bread releases undesirable nutrients into the water, causing a depletion of oxygen in the lake.”

Often mistaken for sewage, algal bloom occurs naturally, when plant-like organisms living in the sea called phytoplankton start to reproduce. It is often characterised by a distinct smell, a change in the colour of the sea and a foam on the surface of the water.