Thursday, 29 November 2012
RED WATER!
On November 27th several beaches around Sydney, Australia had to be shut down because the water had turned blood red. This unusual sight occurred because of adverse weather conditions that occur during the fall and spring when the water is warmer and there are more movements in the ocean currents. This red stuff you see is an algae bloom, it is not toxic in any way to humans but you should not swim in the affected areas because algae can have a very high ammonia content and may cause skin irritation. It's a completely different story though if your shell fish in the affected areas, they are highly toxic to humans if consumed. Paralytic shellfish poisoning is a nerve toxin that very small amounts of can kill you, it's a good thing we don't live down under. These algae blooms are referred to as "red tides" or "sea sparkle".
Alison Wakefield
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Interestingggggg! How long does this last?
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Swimming in that would be buckets of fun. Count me in.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting, my father was in Australia for a few weeks in the Spring I don't know how he could have missed this. Does it go back to regular colour during the summer or stay red from spring til fall?
ReplyDeleteAlison--you don't respond to the above?
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