China: Olympics sailing site is algae-free

The site of the Olympic sailing competition is clear of the bright-green algae that until recently had covered the sea off the city of Qingdao, a Chinese official said Tuesday. The Chinese government had set a goal of clearing the sailing site by Tuesday.

"Now it's totally different from several days ago. It's hard to find the green algae, especially in the Olympics sailing site," Wang Haitao, vice president of the sailing committee for China's games organizing committee, told the Associated Press by telephone.

The sea-blanketing algae bloom, which officials blamed on natural causes, had disrupted practice for the more than 30 Olympic sailing teams already on site.

To save the site for next month's Olympics, the Chinese government in past weeks called on thousands of soldiers, volunteers and fishing boats to help remove the algae.

While the site of the Olympic competition is clear, the cleanup continues outside the barrier of fishnets and canvas that's being used to keep the algae out of the competition area.

"Yesterday, we sent out 1,700 fishing boats to search for algae over the whole sea area in Qingdao, but they only got 10,000 tons," Wang said. "Compared with days before, that's big progress."

Thirty-seven national teams are now training at the Olympic site, he said.

Some of the athletes are reporting success as well.

"We are happy to report that the algae outbreak seems to have been successfully tackled by the hundreds of dedicated ships, fishing boats and thousands of workers," American sailor Carrie Howe said on her team's Web site Monday. "Efforts have even extended to a seemingly endless floating boom to protect the waters of Fusan Bay."