Red Tide
The worst red tide in memory has hit the New England coast this spring, from Maine to Nantucket, slamming Cape Cod and Cape Cod Bay. This nasty algae bloom renders mollusks toxic, so it's a disaster for the shellfishers as well as for the shellfish-eaters. Thus far, it has not moved south into Rhode Island. Details in Boston Globe. Basics on algal blooms here.