The Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) is urging everyone in the community not to swim or fish in the harbor area until further notice.

Currently, the DMWR is working with the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (AS-EPA) to investigate what is happening in the harbor area, in response to numerous inquiries from the public regarding the strange color of the water in Pago Pago Harbor over the past few weeks.

According to a statement from the DMWR, “The water has been a blackish - brown color which has been seen all throughout the harbor, moving around with the tides. It is a similar problem to what happened in the same area last October.”

 “Members of the public have been calling the DMWR office to report the strange colors they are seeing and the bad odors they can smell coming from the dark colored water,” DMWR reports.

Water samples have been collected at different sites around the harbor and one of the samples showed high levels of microscopic marine algae, some of which look similar to the ones that were present in Pago Pago Harbor back in October 2013.

According to the DMWR, “These algae or plankton are usually associated with higher than normal concentrations of nutrients in the water. The algae can form large blooms by using the excess nutrients to fuel the growth of their population in the water. Some species of these marine algae can cause skin irritations in humans and some can cause shellfish poisoning.”

Furthermore, “indirect effects to the marine environment can be caused when the algae die and decompose which uses up the oxygen in the water, causing fish and other animals to leave the area or die.”

The correct identification of the algae species has yet to be confirmed, however as a matter of precaution it is recommended that everyone stay out of the water in the harbor area.