SEPA warns dog owners to keep pets away from bright red rockpools and algae-coated lochs

Dog owners are being warned to keep their pets away from bright red rockpools along the coast this summer.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said that some of the pools, forming along the Moray Firth coast, are caused by either a phytoplankton or algal bloom.

Reports of this phenomenon have been made near the old pool at Portsoy, at the New Aberdour caves and to the west of Sandhaven.

Alongside the bright red colour, the rock pools also emanate a nasty odour of decay, SEPA said.

This is because the water in the pools is usually stagnant and is a combination of the warm weather, lack of rainfall and low tides – with rockpools higher up the beach not being flushed out.

The authority, alongside Aberdeenshire Council, is urging members of the public to avoid these pools and prevent their dogs from swimming in or drinking from them.

Additionally, SEPA has also warned against allowing pets to go near blue-green lochs covered in algae, after a bloom was reported on Loch Langabhat in the Outer Hebrides.

Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar’s environmental health department said that blue-green algae (BGA) occurs naturally and multiplies fast, especially in warm weather.

The local authority has urged pet owners to stay away from the algae-covered loch, since BGA can prove lethal to animals.