I had my first close encounter with Red Tide recently, and it isn't pretty. On the Gulf, the culprit is
Karenia brevis, a naturally-occurring organism seen as far back as the 15th C. The algae is not particularly villainous until it has a population explosion. That's recently happened in these parts, and it's asphyxiating fish in vast quantities. My sunset walk on the beach night before last? Not so pretty. Dead fish on the shore as far as the eye can see. Which I did not photograph. There's a limit to my need to document, though not to my imagination. Something about this episode may find its way into my work, although I may not recognize it by the time it happens.
2 comments:
This comment shouldn't have been deleted by I'm getting used to a new keyboard that does things without my permission. So here it is again:
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Algae & me":
Here. This <a href="http://vimeo.com/29871792'>video on vimeo</a> might make you feel a <i>little</i> better about red tides. They're not all deadly.
This looks amazing, but I just had another walk on a beach strewn with dead fish, and it wasn't fun. I believe the CA and New England red tides are a different algae species. The one on the Gulf does cause problems to people with respiratory issues. I didn't think I had any, but I was coughing a lot.
Also, it's just sad.
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