Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Large amounts of "unsightly" and smelly vegetation has been washing up on Toronto's Cherry Beach shoreline recently, but the director of water programs at Swim Drink Fish Canada says there's no need for alarm. Gregary Ford says the mixture of "submerged aquatic vegetation and a form of algae" is harmless to humans and animals. "We get photos like this all the time; people are often concerned when they see something green washing up on their shorelines," Ford told CBC Toronto.
A bacteria blamed in previous years for killing dogs that consumed it will be investigated as a potential cause of a mystery neurological brain disease observed in New Brunswick that has killed six people, says a researcher involved in the work. Researchers studying the disease plan on looking at cyanobacteria — also known as blue-green algae — and another toxin present in the region to see if there's a link between them and the disease, said Dr. Neil Cashman, a professor in the University of British Columbia's faculty of medicine, who's helping investigate the illness.
