Return of the Blob

Karma
is catching up quickly to the Olympic organizers and selection staff who
picked Qingdao as the sailing center for these summer games, as the plague
of slimy algae has returned to the area in force today. At least two photo/coach
boats have broken down due to the slime clogging up water intake systems,
while one local on a RIB was diving in the water with a scrub brush clenched
between his teeth trying to clear his engine. Ingrid
Abery sent in this great shot showing the armada of local fishing
boats on the evening clean-up shift trying to deal with the problem. Apparently
every morning at 5:00, a flotilla of these junks go and scour the race
area. Must be around 150 of these boats just picking up the algae, and
at around 9:00 am they all disappear off into the horizon.