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BATHERS brave waves of stinking slime - after a freak algae bloom turned the sea green. An area the size of a football pitch has been swamped with the gunk in China's port city of Quingdao, Shandong province. But it hasn't put off beach lovers, who have been doing their best to enjoy the slop.Some have managed to swim through it, while others have taken to rubber rings to laze on top of it. But there have been complaints over the stench of the algae, which is releasing foul smelling gases. And environmentalists have also been up in arms over the 300m blanket, which consumes large quantities of oxygen and is incapacitating marine life and fishing industries.