There will be a fireworks show at night if we have a red tide ..or algal bloom, as scientists like to call it
nowadays.
So..."Red Tide" is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom, an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate
rapidly in the water column,or "bloom." Well, it blooms quite a bit around the Bay of Conception and has quite the sharp odor also! Always reminds
me of a leaking battery smell...very acidic.
A misnomer, red tides are not typically associated with tidal movement of water, hence the preference among scientists to use the
term algal bloom. Plus it doesn't necessarily have to be red, and can vary in color from while to black, mostly red
to brown though...but I think I'll just stick to ..red tides.. for the rest of my tenure here.
One of the few times I was really sick here in Baja was after eating some raw chocolates on the half-shell at Requeson after a red tide. I thought I
was having an appendicitis attack, it was so rough. A lesson well-learned and have since always warned visiting clammers of this possible poisoning.
Noticable during daylight, smelly, and very luminescent at night...the red tides are part of the mystery of Baja.
Material for a great nightime lightshow....and sore tummys
Pompano - 4-11-2007 at 12:35 PM
Bajagypsy - 4-11-2007 at 12:46 PM
When we were down last November with the kids there was the algal bloom, at night my youngest was sure it was fairies on the water!bajadogs - 4-11-2007 at 01:43 PM
Quote:
at night my youngest was sure it was fairies on the water!
Your youngest nailed it. It seems magical to wave your hands in the warm Sea of Cortez and watch the sparkles fire up. We witnessed an amazing show at
Playa Saldamando a couple years ago when the big Pacific surf was pounding, glowing neon green. You have to see it, can't catch it with a camera. At
least I can't.Skipjack Joe - 4-11-2007 at 04:28 PM
Pompano,
I've seen that brown ring in Conception Bay and didn't recognize it to be red tide. In my part of the world the algal bloom is much greater. For
example, the entire half moon bay harbor turns brown in July/Aug and stays until October. You have to motor out about half a mile out to sea before
the water becomes clear.
Bajagypsy, My family too marveled at the night fairies at conception. Our red tide critters are so small that the water glows around the arm when
dragged at night. The conception bay critters are much larger and create little sparkles in the darkness, not to different from those nightflies back
east.
It's interesting to compare the two environments based upon your observations. Two different environments. Two different groups of species of
dinoflagellates. Resulting in two different type of red tide patterns (each species has it's own way of gathering).
The natural world is never boring. Thanks for the pictures.Taco de Baja - 4-11-2007 at 04:32 PM
It sure is fun to toss a rock into the "red tide" on a dark night and watch the concussion wave of green sparks shoot out around the impact zone.
Or, try skipping a flat stone across the surface Pompano - 4-11-2007 at 05:48 PM
For sure the red tide creates a fantastic lightshow at night. Here in Conception Bay the luminescence is so great it will cover the entire bay. The
fish rings and splashes are like fireworks...and BajaGypsy's youngster is not the only one who thinks there are fairies out there!
We have had great fun swimming out to friend's sailboats, climbing aboard and diving off the bowspit into the glowing water...trailing sparks
underneath with our bodies. A magical Baja night.
Once we started out on a lengthy fishing trip about 3 a.m. in my old Pompano diesel flybridge...a 30 footer...and the wake was glowing in the dark all
the way from Coyote Bay to Pt. Conception...a distance of 18 miles.
We were sitting on the flybridge taking in the milky surface around us and all the glowing fish rings everywhere...plus our own eerie wake pointing
the way back to the house. We quickly attracted the attention of 2 big bottle-nose dolphin who decided to keep us company. Zooming in and under our
bow pressure wave the acrobats had a ball with us...and we with them...cheering each of their antics as they jumped like teenagers in and out of the
bow-waves.
Then they gave us a grand finale as we approached the entrance to Conception Bay. Both in unison, they jumped straight up in the air and turned a
cartwheel next to us, glowing like some banshees out of a Edgar Allen Poe novel...we were 12 feet above the water...and showered us with sparkling
water. I was really thunderstruck..never had that happen before, I can tell you!
I turned to my fishing buddy (another Nomad) and pointedly asked..."What did you just see?" He said, "The same thing you did. Two ghosts. Pass me
the rum."
I have been out on that bay many times at night in the phosphorescence and was glad of the experience, but never again have I seen the like of those
two acrobats.
