The LF forum’s detective work continues.
On July 13th, the Sierra National Forest’s Facebook site gave the following warning about the Hites Cove area (These are the first two sentences):
After the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) conducted water testing along the Merced River near Hites Cove as part of the wadeable streams assessment on 6/22/2021 and 6/23/2021 results show a high concentration of algae bloom. The Sierra National Forest (SNF) would like to inform those visitors who like to enjoy this area of the Merced River and SNF, not to swim, wade or allow their pets to enjoy the water…
A month earlier, in June, the SNF had already placed a bright yellow toxic algae alert sign, warning of its presence, at the trailhead in the area where the Mariposa family was found dead this week, presumably in response to the CDFW’s June 22-23 water testing.
(Naturally, I’m curious why the SNF waited until July 13th to post their Facebook warning, when they were apparently aware, in June, of the CDFW’s test results, motivating them to put up the trailhead sign at that time. Are the trailhead sign posters and Facebook managers not on the same page?)
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Perhaps this doomed Mariposa family read SNF’s Facebook post, heeded the trailside sign, followed all the guidelines – then died in a way that had nothing to do with algae blooms.
The human toxicology reports/dog necropsy cannot come soon enough.
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