Temporal distribution of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. along the Outer Banks of North Carolina

Pseudo-nitzschia is a toxin producing species of diatom that blooms commonly along the west coast of the United States. Previously the Outer Banks of North Carolina was not documented as an area able to support routine bloom formation of Pseudo-nitzschia (Hasle 2002). However, monitoring by the NOAA Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN) in this region identified four blooms having occurred since 2005. Three of these blooms occurred in consecutive years (Shuler et al. 2012).