I think you should let people know that pollution running off the island, especially fertilizers from golf courses, is making ciguatera worse. She sounded so sure. I called University of Hawaii marine toxin specialist Dr. Yosh Hokama. Just yesterday we asked the UH Sea Grant Program for funding to study the growth of algae and other marine organisms off Hawaii's golf courses. We know that golf courses change the quality of the water around the areas they are built.
Some studies show that after each rainfall, algae bloom and some dinoflagellates proliferate.
But what effect this has on marine toxins - we just don't know yet. Injections of such nutrients into surrounding waters, from both runoff and seepage, are like showers in a desert. Tiny marine plants and animals thrive. It's a leap that Dr. Hokama isn't willing to make. No one knows yet if such blooms also include an increase in numbers of the dinoflagellate that causes ciguatera fish poisoning, Gambierdiscus toxicus.