Red Tide

[Queso]

what exactly is it?

i know that fish die because of it, but i mean....what causes it?

and why is it on and off??

what is this devil tide????? i was being pummeled by it yesterday, and MANNNNN my eyes were killing me for hours! they still actually kind of itch, blah. i hate these sleepless summer nights.

[Turtle]

___Heres an Official page:

http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/

 

___Up here in the NW they close the beaches to clamming because the clams filter the red algae & retain a toxin. After the algal bloom has passed, the clams filter the toxins out with fresh seawater & they open the beaches soon after to clamming.

___Mmmmm...fresh Razor Clams! Haven't eaten that in a while. Besides the Red Tide interupting clamming, sharp drops in clam population & size often restricts the season even further. A rather tenuous opportunity these last years.

[Harzburgite]

I assume this was a provocative question designed to generate some discussion and input and not a genuine query. [i say this because your post contains all the letters to be found in www. google.com]

Red tides are algal blooms. i.e. they are population explosions of algae, typically toxic, as a consequence of fortuitous combinations of environmental conditions, notably nutrients and temperature.

I am not sure what you mean by "on and off". If this is over a time period of hours and days, then a combination of tides and currents will move masses of the bloom onto and off beaches irregullarily. If you mean days and weeks, once the bloom has used up available nutrients it will die off. If the favourable conditions reoccur a new bloom will arise.

[Queso]

so it's bacteria. got it.

why does it just appear every now and then? i don't understand where it comes from and why.

and um..thanks for your very intelligent post, Harzburgite.

[Fishteacher73]

Most are dinoflagellates that are allready present in small numbers in the system. Factors such as nutrient upwelling, temp shifts, and other organisms can spark off this bloom. The bloom essentially kills itself, by one of two means: toxifying the water with a combination of its own toxins as well as waste products. Just like cycling an aquarium.

[learnin to learn]

;) Is red tide found all over the world or only in certain areas?

[Eclogite]

I did a quick google search for "red tide" "algal blooms" and turned up within http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/ this link

http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/HABdistribution/HABmap.html#World%20HAB%20toxin%20maps

At the bottom are further links to a suite of Maps that show where there have been HABs (harmful algal blooms).

Europe and North America are the largest sufferers, but the Far East is also important for some forms of HAB, while there are isolated outbreaks almost anywhere in coastal or near coastal waters.

[infamous]

what exactly is it?

i know that fish die because of it, but i mean....what causes it?

and why is it on and off??

what is this devil tide????? i was being pummeled by it yesterday, and MANNNNN my eyes were killing me for hours! they still actually kind of itch, blah. i hate these sleepless summer nights.

Hey Orby, this gives credence to the expression "Don't go near the water". Hope this is only a temporary set back, here's my get well quick wish............