sometime in the recent past Dan Logcher posted this:
> Wilson wrote:
>> sometime in the recent past posted this:
>>
>>> "We had some folks get ill 2 years ago when a
>>> family ate mussels they gathered attached to a floating mooring. Put
>>> some
>>> into the hospital w/paralytic shellfish poisoning in Bangor for weeks.
>>> No
>>> thanks!"
>>>
>>>
>>> ___________________
>>>
>>>
>>> Yipes! I used to cook up mussels I found around NYC when I lived back
>>> there. I wasn't aware of that danger.
>>>
>>> Those raw oysters they sell in little jars - do they tend to be
>>> dangerous? How well should I cook them - assuming it's within its
>>> expiration date and looks and smells good, of course. Guy in the
>>> Asian market told me you can eat them raw, but no thanks, not me. I
>>> just bought a bottle in the local Walmart.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Well, it happened again. This time it was some folks that I knew who
>> took some mussels off an mooring on the 4th and ended up going to the
>> hospital. I think they might even still be there. This is the same
>> situation as last time (which was *1* year ago) - Red Tide warnings
>> were in place and the offending shellfish were mussels and not from
>> the ocean floor, but from a floating mooring. This is the problem in
>> my mind since the algae bloom concentrates in the upper strata. The
>> poisoning slows the heart rate, so it's more than just sitting close
>> to the 'water closet.'
>
> It shouldn't make a difference if the mussels are from a mooring or from
> the bottom.
>
There are studies underway to better understand this problem algae, in
particular here in the Gulf of Maine, Alexandrium fundyense, but it appears
there's a lot they don't know right now. From http://tinyurl.com/63a546 (it
was a very long url & tinyurl.com fixes that) research reports:
> "Blooms" of the poison-producing plankton are coastal phenomena caused by
environmental conditions, which promote explosive growth. Factors that are
especially favorable include *warm surface temperatures*, high nutrient
content, *low salinity*, and calm seas. Rain followed by sunny weather in
the summer months is often associated with red tide blooms."<

Two things, IMHO, support my position: 1. "warm surface temperatures" and 2.
"low salinity."

Fresh water is lighter and rides on the surface of salt water until mixed.
The mooring lines where the mussels were harvested rise and fall with the
tide, but remain a constant distance from the surface. Anyone who was
getting "a feed" of mussels from a skiff would probably harvest only the
easily reached mussels near the surface.

Here's something else on toxicity concerning the recent and past poisonings

> the contaminated shellfish from Cutler already has been tested and was
found to contain 6,000 micrograms of toxin per liter of test solution. The
state’s threshold for closing harvesting areas is only 80 micrograms, but
mussels that were consumed last year by the Beals contained levels closer to
16,000 micrograms.<

the Bangor Daily News,
http://bangornews.com/news/t/downeas...798&zoneid=177

Mahogany quohogs get shut down too from red tide and they live in 200+ ft.
of water, so you are right that shellfish from the top or bottom can be
equally dangerous.