Lt. Col. Jennifer Reynolds announced at the river coalition that Lake Okeechobee discharges will halt for nine days Ed Killer, ed.killer@tcpalm.com

The algae bloom is taking over Lake Okeechobee, the nation’s second largest freshwater lake completely contained within U.S. borders behind only Lake Michigan in size.

A European satellite orbiting the Earth captured images Thursday and Friday showing the algae bloom has grown to encompass nearly all open water on the 730-square-mile lake.

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Satellite images show nearly all of Lake Okeechobee covered in algae