Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Harmful algal blooms work by disrupting food webs, Dr Caron said. Creatures such as shellfish, anchovies and sardines consume the toxins before then being eaten by larger marine mammals. "They eat a meal of those highly toxic fish and then they become toxified themselves, and if they get enough of that material, it of course can kill them, which is happening now," he said.