The local gov­ern­ment of Miagao, Iloilo, has advised the pub­lic to avoid all water activ­it­ies along the shorelines of three barangay (vil­lages) fol­low­ing the appear­ance of a black-colored algal bloom emit­ting a pun­gent and highly irrit­at­ing odor. The unusual plant-like sub­stance was first repor­ted on Tues­day, June 23, along the coast of Barangay Narat-an, Mam­batad and Sapa. The Col­lege of Fish­er­ies and Ocean Sci­ences of the Uni­versity of the Phil­ip­pines Visayas (UPV) iden­ti­fied the organ­ism respons­ible for the bloom as Lyn­gbya majus­cula, a fil­a­ment­ous cyanobac­terium com­monly found in shal­low coastal waters.

Castor, R. Z. (2026, June 25). Algal bloom infects Iloilo shorelines. The Manila Times, p. A7.