Every once in a while , the ocean turn the color of lineage and scores of deadfishrise to the surface . The phenomenon might look like a scriptural plague , but the source is far more everyday . It ’s justalgae .
Red tides , also call harmful algal blooms , pass off when there ’s a sudden population gravy among specific kinds of algae , which in tremendous quantities become seeable to the au naturel heart . Not all harmful algal blooms are red ; some are blue , green , brown , or even royal . They occur all over the populace . In the Gulf of Mexico , the perpetrator behind red tides washing onto coastline from Texas to Florida is usually a case of microscopic algae calledKarenia brevis . It grow atoxic compoundthat affects the central nervous system of fish , ocean turtles , Trichechus manatus , and dolphin , often with fatal results . In addition to generating the neurolysin , K. breviscan become airborne and cause symptom in mankind like coughing , skin irritation , and reeking eyes [ PDF ] . Not all alga prime produce toxins that harm human being or animals , however .
alga salad days may occur naturally or be helped along by overspill from farms and coastal development that flows into flow and river , which make their agency into oceans . In particular , overflow from agricultural areas — which may include fertilizer and livestockpoop — can hold in abundant nutrients , such as nitrogen , that turbocharge the alga ’s increment . Blooms can smother marine sprightliness below the ocean ’s aerofoil by impede sun and bysucking up oxygenin the water system , suffocate Pisces the Fishes and other animals .
One of the unsound red tide on record occurred in 2018 , when a mass of algae lap at Florida ’s gulf coast formore than a twelvemonth . Hotels in the popular tourist destinations of Captiva and Sanibel islandslost $ 8 milliondue to canceled reservations , while the flush cost the province of Florida $ 14.5 million to clean house beach of bushed wildlife .
A translation of this account ran in 2018 ; it has been updated for 2023 .
