Possible way found to kill Calfironia’s ugly red tides
May 11th, 2008, 3:00 am · 2 Comments · posted by grobbins
It’s possible that scientists will someday be able to destroy the ugly and sometimes harmful red tides and related algae blooms that turn coastal waters in places like Orange County the color of rust or coffee.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography has discovered that RCA bacteria – a natural marine microbe – can attack and kill the single-cell plankton that produce red tide blooms. It appears that RCA killed the massive red tide that spread along the Southern California coast in the summer of 2005. As shown in this image, the bloom stained the waters off southern Orange County.
“From a practical point of view, if these RCA bacteria really do kill (plankton cells) and potentially other harmful algae that form dense blooms, down the road there may be a possibility of using them to mitigate their harmful effects,” Scripps oceanographer Peter Franks says in a news release.
Some blooms, adds the release, “carry toxins that have been known to threaten marine ecosystems and even kill marine mammals, fish and birds.”
Red tides also stir concern among surfers and swimmers.
“I know our local red tides are supposed to be harmless, and they don’t bother me personally a bit, health wise,” says Sean Collins, founder of Surfline.com in Huntington Beach. “But I do know a number of people who are greatly affected with sinus issues, ear aches, etc., when they surf in the red tide.
“And even some people who don’t even go in the water but their sinuses get all stuffed up like hay fever during severe local red tides, which we assumed was from the onshore winds blowing over the red tide. So I guess everyone is different but there are definitely some issues with some people.”
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May 11th, 2008 at 8:01 am
attention “experts”. do you brainiacs ever consider that every time you try to screw with natural cycles there are ALWAYS unintended consequences? i can see it now, giant tankers dumping huge loads of “RCA” off dana point so some whiny , pale faced, holier than thou doesn’t have to blow her nose & fill our landfills with evil, wasteful tissue paper.
take all the time, money & energy spent studying this useless crap & put some fish habitats ( a.k.a. oil wells) there instead.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:38 am
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