The worst part of summer is when you go to the beach and the attendant manning the booth says you can’t come in because the park is experiencing Red Tide. Not only are your day’s plans ruined, but so is the beautiful and familiar blue ocean you’ve always known.
Red Tide or HABs is short for harmful algal blooms, which basically mean that red tide occurs when “the population of certain kinds of algae known as dinoflagellates explodes,” according to the Center for Disease Control, or CDC. This means when certain algae in the water bunch together and reproduce quickly, they can change the chemical levels in the water causing the water, to change in color to red, which is what I have commonly seen, or even orange, brown, or yellow. This extensive growth of algae can “deplete the oxygen and block the sunlight that other organisms need to live, and some can produce toxins that are harmful to the health of the environment,” again, states the CDC.
Monterey Bay, CA http://biolum.eemb.ucsb.edu/organism/redtide.html
Red Tide has been reported in most costal communities within the United States. It is important that Red Tide is cleaned up, because since it damages the ecosystems within the ocean. It is also dangerous to those who live near the costal communities because much of their economies are based off their environments so, for example, those who sell seafood would be effected financially because they would no longer be able to offer that product.
Although, Red Tide begins with the overgrowth of algae, it is also important that factors that contribute to it can be prevented by humans such as refraining from polluting the oceans and being more mindful in terms of their run off water and how it will affect the ocean. This is furthers reminds us that even if you dispose of a liquid down a public drain it will end up going to the ocean and causing harmful affects. Sure, you’ve always known that throwing your trash on the beach or letting your dirty water run off as you wash your car has to go “somewhere”, but now you can visually see the consequences of your actions. So always remember to dispose your waste properly.
“The goal is to give communities advance warnings so they can adequately plan for and deal with the adverse environmental and health effects associated with these ‘red-tide’ events,” says the scientists at the National Ocean Service, which is how they are working toward preventing HABs from occurring.
Work Cited
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/hab/default.htm
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/redtide.html
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/hab/
http://www.seaweb.org/resources/briefings/algae.php
http://biolum.eemb.ucsb.edu/organism/redtide.html
Hi! I’m from San Diego,CA and Red Tide has always been a problem I’ve encountered over the summer. That’s interesting that you’ve never experienced Red Tide because when I was researching it, most of the sites tested and mentioned actually happened on this side of the country such as Florida and places near the gulf of Mexico, but it has effected all coastal communities within the county as per http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/redtide.html. It is interesting and curious as to why you haven’t experienced Red Tide.
I am also from Long island and i have never heard of this happening either!! Maybe it is something regional. This blog post was very interesting and full of good facts. In my environmental science class I learned a lot about algea bloom and eutrophication so i really found this cool because I have never seen it before!! Awesome job
Hi Katherine, I am wondering where you are from because I am from Long Island and have been living there for 18 years now and I don’t think I have ever seen this before! You said, “It can be prevented by humans such as refraining from polluting the oceans and being more mindful in terms of their run off water and how it will affect the ocean.” This leaves me surprised that I am yet to see a red tide because New York is defiantly an area high in pollution. Your post made me google search the topic and I actually found out that there was a 10 mile long red tide by NYC in 2010, I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this! I’m shocked I don’t hear more about these things if they are so harmful to us. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\, “Scientists at the National Ocean Service have been monitoring and studying this phenomenon for a number of years to determine how to detect and forecast the location of the blooms.” I think that would be a huge advancement for us because we would be able to hopefully prevent these from occurring. Luckily, I haven’t seen one of these on the Island yet; My beach day hasn’t been ruined or my nice seafood dinner, I wonder why they occur more often in your neighborhood than mine.
Hi Katherine, I am wondering where you are from because I am from Long Island and have been living there for 18 years now and I don’t think I have ever seen this before! You said, “It can be prevented by humans such as refraining from polluting the oceans and being more mindful in terms of their run off water and how it will affect the ocean.” This leaves me surprised that I am yet to see a red tide because New York is defiantly an area high in pollution. Your post made me google search the topic and I actually found out that there was a 10 mile long red tide by NYC in 2010, I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this! I’m shocked I don’t hear more about these things if they are so harmful to us. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “Scientists at the National Ocean Service have been monitoring and studying this phenomenon for a number of years to determine how to detect and forecast the location of the blooms.” I think that would be a huge advancement for us because we would be able to hopefully prevent these from occurring. Luckily, I haven’t seen one of these on the Island yet; My beach day hasn’t been ruined or my nice seafood dinner, I wonder why they occur more often in your neighborhood than mine.