CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Residents and visitors called recent conditions “miserable” near some Cape Coral canals. A family near the south end of the Rubican Canal near Cape Coral parkway said the stench from nearby blooms had them avoiding their backyard for nearly a week until conditions cleared up Monday. “It has definitely inhibited us the last couple of days from just being outside,” Judy Link said.  The Links relocated to Southwest Florida in 2017. At the time they lived in North Fort Myers, but remember the 2018 algae blooms in Cape Coral well. “The smell was so bad that you couldn’t sit on your lanai, you couldn’t go into the pool, you couldn’t be outside,” Link said. “It was just like a million dead, rotting fish.” Those algae blooms eventually cleared up and the Links relocated across the Caloosahatchee to Cape Coral. They call their property their “forever home” and said, until a week ago, they’d never had any algae problems. “The smell has been horrific,” she said. “It actually looked like giant clumps of yuck.” The “clumps of yuck” are likely a type of green algae that isn’t harmful. NBC2 recently reported on similar algae blooms in nearby canals.  RELATED STORY: Experts say, green algae no cause for concern in Cape Coral canals Dr. Barry Rosen, a professor in the water school at Florida Gulf Coast University, tested samples of that algae. He said it was a naturally occurring organism often found on the bottom of canals and, while it may be pungent, the algae isn’t harmful like Blue-green Algae. The Links said the latter is their chief concern and hope local leaders continue pursuing ways of preventing another Cape algae bloom season akin to 2018.