Chinese Olympic City Swamped By Algae
China's Olympic co-host city Qingdao has appealed for help on Wednesday, July 2, 2008, to contain an algae bloom that has coated its offshore waters. Qingdao, which will host Olympic sailing events during the Beijing Games in August, had already co-opted 10,000 local residents and troops, and hundreds of boats to dredge the resort town's bays. Authorities have so far cleaned 8,626 tonnes of floating weed from coastal waters and scooped up another 13,665 tonnes that had washed up on local beaches, local media reports said.