Pages: 14-24

Abstract

Blooms of autotrophic algae and some heterotrophic protists are increasingly frequent in ‎coastal and inland waters in Nigeria and around the world and are collectively grouped as ‎harmful algal blooms (HABs). This paper reviewed the various impacts of HABs in inland ‎and coastal water bodies in Nigeria. Literatures of relevant and previous studies on HABs in ‎inland and coastal water bodies in Nigeria within Nigeria and outside Nigeria were ‎reviewed. The impacts of these HABs are felt in many ways:  human health is placed at risk; ‎ecosystems are altered; marine mammals are injured or killed; and the fishing, aquaculture, ‎and recreation industries suffer substantial economic losses. Understanding the causes of ‎these phenomena, and preventing their consequences, should be major concerns to ‎Nigerians and the rest of the world at large. Moreover, although it is generally ‎acknowledged that occurrences of these phenomena are increasing throughout the world's ‎oceans, the reasons for this apparent increase remain debated and include not only ‎eutrophication, and climate change but increased observation efforts in coastal zones of the ‎world. Algae are a natural component of the aquatic food chain and are typically not ‎harmful to people. However, the overabundance of algae in a bloom can be aesthetically ‎unappealing and harmful to the environment. If the types of algae that produce toxins reach ‎high concentrations, then native aquatic organisms, and perhaps even people who come in ‎contact with the toxins, can be affected.The public should be educated via various ‎scientific outlets and outreaches on extreme environmental events such as HABs and their ‎health effects on humans and aquatic ecosystems‎.