Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Nearshore bloom

If you've been near the ocean recently, you might have noticed that the water looks very brown.  To document this algal bloom, I took a few photos tonight (28 August 2018):

 


 


 

I haven't heard which species of phytoplankton are dominating this event, but if I learn more details I'll add some information to this post.  

If you're interested in learning about algal blooms in general, this document "A Primer On California Marine Harmful Algal Blooms" from the Kudela Lab at UC Santa Cruz is a good place to start.
 
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2 comments:

  1. brentSeptember 7, 2018 at 9:36 PM

    any updates? water was very nasty this week and a couple of my surfing friends had sinus issues and sickness after surfing.

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  2. Jackie SonesSeptember 9, 2018 at 12:45 PM

    Hi, Brent,

    A researcher here has looked at the dinoflagellates causing this bloom (e.g., Prorocentrum, Ceratium). I'm not sure how much is known about whether the species involved at this time can cause human health issues. However, I would guess the abundance and density alone might pose a risk. I'm not an expert at all, so you might want to check in with the California Department of Public Health:

    https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/EHIB/EAS/Pages/HABs.aspx

    Jackie

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