Something’s rotten in Back Bay

A putrid scent greets the nose in Newport Beach. The likely suspect? Dead algae.NEWPORT BEACH -- Something smells funny around the Back Bay.

Perhaps funny is not the best way to describe the unfortunate odor. It hangs around the stretch of Jamboree Road that passes the bay south of the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway. Around there, the air greets the nostrils with a putrid scent someone might expect to find around a storm drain or a stagnant pond.

In short, it stinks.

The unpleasant aroma can even be detected around the luxurious automobiles at Fletcher Jones Motorcars, leasing manager Kirk Dawson said.

“I don’t smell it,” Dawson said. “Customers come by and go, ‘What’s that smell?’”

The offensive aroma usually arrives at this time of year, but Dawson does not notice it. “It’s kind of like being on a farm. You get used to the cows,” Dawson said.

The likely culprit is dying algae, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said. He said there was no evidence of any human-caused accidents near the bay or upstream on San Diego Creek to blame for the odor.

“It can smell pretty bad and sulfuric, but we have seen no sewage spills,” Kiff said.

Bad smells around bay waters tend to be seasonal and are most often noticed during periods of pleasant sunny weather, Kiff said. He offered the hypothesis that recent rainfall may have washed nutrients such as nitrogen into the Back Bay, where they fed algae that are now undergoing a smelly demise.

Having an explanation for the stink may be of little consolation to anyone breathing the air near the Back Bay, but in September, people around Los Angeles were perplexed by a mystery odor the LAObserved.com blog likened to “sour milk and a soggy mattress.” In September, that website posted e-mails from people who reported olfactory annoyances in locales including Beverly Hills, Westwood and Marina del Rey.

When it comes to mystery smells, New York seems to have all the luck. The New York Times reported Monday that Manhattan residents were treated to a smell that one person compared to maple syrup with waffles or pancakes.

According to that article, there was nothing unhealthful about the scent that drifted through New York, but it’s hard to be too careful. Public safety officials received several reports regarding the aroma and agencies including New York’s police and fire departments and the Coast Guard were called on to check out the smell.

An official quoted in the New York Times could not pinpoint the cause of Manhattan’s enigmatic smell.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards@latimes.com.