Green With Algae

Members of the Chinese military clean up a beach covered with blue-green algae in Qingdao, eastern China, Thursday, July 3, 2008. China's latest Olympics nightmare is a vast algae bloom that covers one third of the sea where the world's best sailors are supposed to be competing in just over a month.

A Chinese military officer cleans up a beach covered with blue-green algae in Qingdao, eastern China, Thursday, July 3, 2008. A little over a month before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games the venue for the sailing events in Qingdao has been invaded by a forest of algae. City officials say they'll need at least two weeks to clear the coastal waters, mobilizing 10,000 workers aboard 1,000 boats.

A Chinese volunteer cleans up a beach covered with blue-green algae in Qingdao, eastern China, Thursday, July 3, 2008. The algae bloom covers one-third of the sea where the world's best sailors are supposed to be competing. Athletes call it the blob, the carpet, the fairway.

A Chinese swimmer removes blue-green algae from coastal waters in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Chinese officials are trying to make the stuff go away. Hundreds of soldiers cleaned it up by hand in a seaside park Wednesday. About 10,000 ordinary citizens were doing the same along the shore, while more than 1,200 fishing and other boats hauled it in by net.

A Chinese man watches a worker remove blue-green algae from coastal waters in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Chinese swimmers remove blue-green algae from coastal waters in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Chinese soldiers remove blue-green algae from a beach in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Chinese officials promised at a news conference Wednesday that the Olympics competition area, all 19 square miles of it, will be clear of the algae before races begin Aug. 9.

Chinese soldiers remove blue-green algae from a beach in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Chinese workers search for signs of blue-green algae in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Chinese soldiers remove blue-green algae from a beach in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Chinese soldiers help to clear away blue-green algae from a beach in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Chinese volunteers help to clean a beach of the blue-green algae invading Qingdao, in eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

Chinese crewmen examine equipment for a pump outfitted onto a dredging boat that sucks up water to filter out blue green algae invading Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Athletes attending the sailing events of the 2008 Olympic Games are in the coastal city to familiarize themselves with the waters but the recent algae bloom is proving to be an obstacle.

Chinese crewmen look on as a pump outfitted onto a dredging boat sucks up water to filter out blue green algae invading Qingdao, in eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008.

A bird rests amidst an algae bloom clogging up a beach in Qingdao, China, Tuesday, July 1, 2008.