October 23, 2009 Friday - Part 1

Bolinas	Groin
9:00 am to 11:00 am	3' to 5', sets overhead
Low tide (3.4 ft at 9:00 am)	Slight offshore breeze
Sunny, warm and hazy	Good session

“Look at the red tide!” Professor Steve commented between sets out at the Groin peak. “Yesterday it was clear.”

I noticed a slight brownish-red tint to the water when I launched myself off the ramp into a three-foot approaching wave at 9:00 am. The color became more pronounced the longer we were out there. By 10:30 am, near the end of my session, the water was a deep reddish-brown color. David, the Bolinas local, commented that Chuck the knee-boarder, who is a long time resident of Bolinas, is an expert on local birds, flora and fauna and he claims that elements in the red tide enter the air like pollen. Chuck swears that his nasal allergy was caused by the red tide. Last month, the red tide appeared and hung around for a week. Look at my photo of Matt on my September 23rd posting and note the brownish-red color of the wave. The above photo shows the red tide and the fierce shore break pounding the base of the ramp.

Professor Steve claims the red tide is an algae bloom. I googled red tide and located an informative article: Red Tides: Questions and Answers by Gregg W. Langlois, Senior Environmental Scientist, California Department of Public Health, Environmental Management Branch.

A red tide is a bloom of dinoflagellates, a particular group of phytoplankton, which are microscopic, single-celled plants that occur naturally in California’s coastal waters. A bloom occurs when dinoflagellates reproduce rapidly resulting in millions of cells per gallon of water. They seem to prefer warmer and calmer water. The reddish color is from pigments in the phytoplankton cells for capturing sunlight needed for cell nourishment, growth and reproduction. The color of a bloom can take on the appearance of a variety of shades from brown to burgundy to bright red. The color depends on the phytoplankton species, light intensity and angle of the sun shining on the water. The majority of red tides in California occur from early spring (February and March) to late summer (August and September). They can last for days to months depending on available nutrients, sunlight, water temperature, changes in wind and surf conditions, competition with other species and grazing by larger zooplankton and small fish.

Heads up surfers here’s the warning: Phytoplankton are the base of the food chain and their presence is both normal and essential. However, scientists are concerned that there has been an increase in the number of blooms, and that blooms, particularly toxic blooms, are occurring where they never occurred before. The increased red tide activity could be related to human activity, which has greatly increased the amount of nutrients that enter our coastal waters. The majority of red tides in California are non-toxic. However, non-toxic red tides can cause irritation of the eyes, mouth and throat as well as cold and flu-like symptoms. Unfortunately, some red tides are caused by species that produce deadly toxins such as domoic acid and paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. Filter-feeding organisms like mussels, oysters, clams and scallops can accumulate dangerous levels of toxins produced by a few different phytoplankton species. These nerve toxins can also accumulate in the guts of crab, sardines and anchovies. So pay attention to alerts and quarantines issued by the California Department of Health.

This particular red tide hung around until Monday. When I paddled out to the Groin peak Monday morning to join Professor Steve the water only had a slight tinge of red. Steve commented that the red tide was still there and that he could feel it. The water felt the same to me, but I could smell the red tide. It has a distinct odor, much like smell I remembered as a kid around fishing piers, the smell of decaying fish. Professor Steve had heard the red tide was everywhere along the coast and it was in the lagoon also. Josh the Bolinas fisherman told him that last week the red tide was twenty miles out to sea where he was fishing. A couple of locals had come down with colds and blamed it on the red tide.

Weather conditions changed, low pressure moved in pushing out the sunny and warm high-pressure conditions. The transition from high to low brought in high winds Tuesday and Wednesday and the red tide disappeared.