A large amount of the coastal animal and plant life is adversely affected by the occurrence of the tide, and because of that the livelihood of the fishermen is also hurt. No wonder that many believe that the biblical "water turning to blood" was actually a reference to a Red Tide!
Red Tide Algae
The Red Tide is a terrifying phenomenon that haunts the Earth’s coastlines. At certain times of year, the waters may turn a rust color as thousands of tiny seaweeds known as (Algera pelagius) multiply after mysterious influxes of nutrients, often in combination with temperature changes. The algae is rapidly absorbed by shellfish, and is extremely neurotoxic. The highly lethal bloom may rapidly paralysis limbs, and even worse, it anesthetizes the respiratory pathways upon exposure through contaminated shellfish. The Red Tide is considered to be the basis of the Biblical Plague where the waters turned to blood, and was noted to have caused the death of one of Captain George Vancouver’s crew upon the navigation of Western Canada. States and provinces have been closed to harvesting as a result of “paralytic shellfish poisoning” threats. In addition to human victims, entire beaches have been covered dead seabirds and ducks that were exposed to the toxic algae. Red Tide just might explain some of the mysterious animal deaths noted on a recent list.
It really wouldn't bother me if I never saw another Red Tide, ya know? Enough is enough in some cases.
Coffee in the kitchen this morning. It's still raining, but today that's a good thing!
7 comments:
Yes, it's nasty. The areas that can be affected are pretty widespread too. That's when it's good to retreat to the mountains.
Glad I don't eat shellfish. The list was interesting that you linked to. Makes you wonder what is going on.
Will be getting rain tonight - really need it. I'll bring some pears - our neighbor let us pick the tree clean before the deer eats them.
I've read about this on OFM's blog awhile back. Pretty sad to see all those dead fish washed ashore.
We haven't had rain for a sometime but I do believe we broke some records this year over the monsoon season.
Red Tide is some nasty stuff. It probably was what turned the waters in Egypt to "blood". Have a great weekend. Cool and sunny here this AM.
Interesting blog and links today, as usual. That red tide is a scary thing. Another interesting thing in the ocean is the luminescence caused by the blue tide, which are algae that emit blue light.
Hey Sixbears...
Let's just hope that it never spreads to mountain streams. It's seems to always be something!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Hey Phyllis...
I'm not real crazy about shellfish myself! Now shrimp...that's another story!
Good score on the pears!
Thanks for coming over this morning.
Hey Jo...
The mass deaths of any species is a sad thing!
Been raining slowly for a couple of days and I'm liking it! We sure did need it!
Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!
Hey Dizzy...
I've never seen the Blue Tide, but I have heard of it. Beauty shows up in the strangest places!
Thanks for coming over today
We have a blue-green algea that does just the same here, It flowers when the water heats up in summer and people are advised to stay away from the sea and absolutrely not let dogs take a sip of the water, they will most likely die within a day. But I've never seen this read variety before.
We don't have tide here in Sweden, Denmark is too close on the other side of the ocean and stops the tide and the Baltic sea is too small to react. So even if I've lived by the sea almost all my life I've never experienced the tide.
Have a great day!
Christer.
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