Red tide delivers spectacular light show along coast at night

[SoCalDem]

People come to watch the blue glow of the waves, caused by the red tide, as children play in the sand, which glows and sparkles when disturbed, at the beach in Cardiff on Tuesday night.
Hayne Palmour IV



Quinn Ireland, 11, watches waves glowing bright enough to be reflected in the thin layer of water just in front him at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas on Tuesday night. The blue glow is caused by the red tide. Hayne Palmour IV


Red tide delivers spectacular light show along coast at night

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/07/07/news/coastal/21_49_187_6_05.txt


By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer

CARLSBAD ---- The downside ... That rank, rotting fish funk wafting out from the mudflats of North County's coastal lagoons comes from billions of decaying, single-celled organisms called phytoplankton, known collectively as the red tide. The upside ... The red tide has turned North County's crashing waves into brilliant, rolling splashes of neon blue. Adults and kids have been gathering at area beaches after dark to watch the unusual light show as waves and wet beach sand flash neon blue when the bioluminescent phytoplankton create their own light in roiling surf.

snip...

Light waves

"This (phytoplankton) is the most fun," said Franks, whose 6-year-old daughter Gillian coined the phrase "glow-in-the-dark-water" for the red tide.

"It's nontoxic and it puts on this great light show."

Each phytoplankton cell creates its own eerie blue light in a sudden flash, Franks said. Roiling in the surf, or agitated by humans and fish, the phytoplankton flash. The phenomenon may be a warning to predators, or to attract predators to eat the organisms that are eating the dinoflagellates, Franks theorized. "Swimming in the red tide is amazing," Franks wrote in an e-mail to friends and colleagues. "Your hands will glow in front of you, and you'll be covered in tiny glowing stars when you come out of the water."

snip...



Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at [phone] or [e-mail].

Here is list of fun things to do after dark to make the red tide flash neon blue:



Make sand angels


Dance in the sand


Pour ocean water on your dog


Swim in the ocean close to shore


Kayak at night


Fingerpaint in the sand


Drag a rake down the wet beach behind you


Stomp in the wet sand


Pour ocean water into a glass and agitate it with your brother's electric toothbrush


Take a night run down the wet beach and watch your steps


Go out on the pier and watch the fish excite the phytoplankton


Fill water bottles with ocean water. Toss the water out on the beach.


Toss balls of sand down the beach. The clumps will glow blue.


For boat owners with bilge toilets, flush.


Drop a few drops of vinegar in a clear bottle of ocean water. The vinegar causes the phytoplankton to flash. However, the acid kills them. No more fun

[havocmom]

1. Thanks for the VERY cool post! Have tried to explain it to Havocdad

A picture is, indeed, worth 1000 words!

[uppityperson]

2. Stomp on the wet sand, walk hard and you can see your ftprints.

bioluminescent phytoplankton are so cool. We get outbreaks on the pacific side too sometimes. It is really cool.

[GOPisEvil]

3. Yes, but are the grunion running?

:D

[Submariner]

4. Sulfides in the water make the glow

It is the same water quality condition that makes biobay light up. Neat stuff to go kayaking in it and swimming.



http://www.biobay.com/