Red Tide in San Diego

Wednesday, September 3, 2003, 15:16 —by poibox
This item was posted in General category and has 34 Comments so far.

The Red tide is in town. It’s been here almost a week now. No one know how much longer it will stay around, but if you get a chance to see it - it’s well worth it. The best time is after the moon has set so that there’s not to much light on the ocean. Go to a beach that doesn’t have much city lights around. For those that don’t know what the red tide check out this site.

quote from site:

“These organisms produce streaks of electric blue light that highlight breaking waves during the night”

it really does light up the ocean - saw it with my own eyes on Saturday night.

UPDATE 06/30/2005: More Red Tides in San Diego.

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34 Responses to “Red Tide in San Diego”

  1. !1337 said on Thursday, September 4, 2003, 23:09

    I heard it is only down in IB and the Silver Strand. Is it further North? A very cool effect!

  2. poibox said on Friday, September 5, 2003, 22:27

    I saw some remnants of it at the beach in Del Mar around 20th street. I checked out near Cardiff by the sea and i didn’t see much and i was up in Oceanside today and there wasn’t much there, but i did see some in Del Mar this evening - not a whole bunch, but you could see some lights flashing when the big waves broke.

  3. David Jennings said on Friday, September 19, 2003, 15:31

    I was at Oceanside Harbor last night and when the bigger waves would crash they would glow blue, btu on the smaller waves you couldn’t see any thing. Also I was out in the water in Carlsbad and the water did seem redder/browner that the past couple days.

  4. poibox said on Saturday, September 20, 2003, 14:52

    I was at Blacks Beach today and the red tide was pretty thick there. The red tide actually came closer to shore.
    I also watched it last night at 11th street in Del Mar. The bigger waves had the best show.

  5. Hobbie said on Saturday, September 27, 2003, 21:53

    Does anyone know the technical reason for the blue light? We were in Encinitas tonight and it was the most amazing ocean light show we’ve ever seen!!!

  6. Bill said on Monday, September 29, 2003, 1:05

    Was in Del Mar (1600 Block by Jakes) last evening and couldn’t believe what we were seeing! We were visiting from Portland and watched the brilliant blue surf for bette than an hour.
    What causes this to happen. Does it have to do with the “red tide”. One kid on the beach called it “surf lightning”. WHATEVER! It was awesome. Seemed like the bigger waves further off shore were the brightest.

  7. kris said on Tuesday, September 30, 2003, 18:08

    hey, i was in la jolla shores, its pretty nice there, not too many big waves, but i went night longboarding, and you leave a trail behind you…excellent! i think its a mix of chemicals (safe) and micro organisms that dont usually mix cept for this time of year, and it causes a quick iridescent reaction…its great though!

  8. kris said on Tuesday, September 30, 2003, 18:10

    here’s an exerpt from scripps institute we might find interesting:
    Like tiny fireflies, dinoflagellates can create their own light through an internal chemical reaction. Flashing is stimulated by mechanical agitation. After dark, you may observe a bluish glow along the crest of breaking waves. You may also notice your footprints glowing in the wet sand as you walk along the beach.

  9. Lo said on Wednesday, October 1, 2003, 0:44

    We were at Dogs Beach tonight, easy to view here, not too many lights around to distract from the ocean.
    (sept. 30th around 10ish) Awesome! Have never seen anything like this! Even the sand under our feet was glowing when we walked…it was like florecent paint! Totally beautiful!

  10. cassie said on Wednesday, October 1, 2003, 18:27

    comment
    Is it still happening???? I have been waiting to see this. Where is the best place to watch in S.D.

  11. michele said on Wednesday, October 1, 2003, 21:37

    how far up the coast does it go? can i see it in la??

  12. James said on Friday, October 3, 2003, 20:36

    Went surfing abt 6 and stayed til i cant see the waves but it was soo awesome to see those waves glowing.. man its soo awesome to rip and break the wave and after that you can see the spot where it was ripped at..

  13. Carrie said on Monday, October 6, 2003, 19:27

    I want to go see the red tides this Saturday night…Does anyone know if it will still be there?

  14. carolyn said on Monday, October 6, 2003, 21:29

    SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER ME! I NEED TO KNOW IF red tide is still goin on and where!

  15. jazmin said on Thursday, October 9, 2003, 14:01

    i need to know how long the red tide is going to last and what’s the best beach to go see it at ….

  16. Joe said on Thursday, October 9, 2003, 14:22

    Any dark beach dummy.

  17. Annika said on Friday, October 10, 2003, 9:14

    FYI: A co-worker went Oct 8 to Del Mar and saw the lights, so it’s still happening….

  18. dave said on Saturday, October 11, 2003, 2:10

    still going on. here at crystal pier in pacific beach the show was amazing tonight!.

  19. rick said on Sunday, October 12, 2003, 12:37

    Red tide is occurring now in IB. It’s amazing to watch at night when the ice blue streaks shoot across the cresting waves. During the day, just looks like mud.

  20. :) said on Friday, October 17, 2003, 11:08

    yup it’s still going on … i checked out la jolla beach on wednesday and it was pretty cool …

  21. ron said on Friday, October 17, 2003, 16:39

    I went to Torrey Pines State Beach and to La Jolla Shores and it’s still going on. La Jolla Shores is a pretty good place to see it. The waves there tend to be bigger. Torrey Pines has a lot of light.

  22. Tricia said on Saturday, October 18, 2003, 16:10

    There was neat red tide effects at Ocean Beach last night around 12 am ish. I’ve never seen anything that cool! You could see the fish swimming around in the water and when the waves broke it was all blue… really cool.

  23. Fletch said on Sunday, October 19, 2003, 9:25

    WOW!!! Carlsbad was “alive” last night. This was our first time seeing the Dinoflagellates and it was very impressive. North of the power plant and south of Fidels was the hot spot.

  24. Les said on Sunday, October 19, 2003, 18:27

    I was at mission beach saturday night and the glow was amazing… i had never seen anything like it… very magical… so it is still going on… does anyone know howlong this will last?

  25. J said on Sunday, October 19, 2003, 21:10

    It was beautiful at moonlight tonight!!! It will last intil Novemeber…its like acid….

  26. Michelle said on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, 7:44

    We were at Torrey Pines Beach last night - it was still awesome. Our friend visiting from Indiana thinks we are the best tour guides ever!

  27. George said on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, 8:56

    Someone please tell me the best place to get a peek at this tonight! I’m willing to drive where ever. Thanks :)

  28. Jenn said on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, 9:43

    I live in PB. Is there a particular beach that would be better to see it????

  29. david said on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, 21:58

    Torrey Pines Park north of UCSD is a great place to see the bioluminescent effects of the red tide. Just be sure to go on a night with clouds or no moon.

  30. ChillyZero said on Friday, October 24, 2003, 10:09

    Yeah, this stuff is real cool, but I think it affects the lobster fishing.

  31. Cassandra said on Sunday, October 26, 2003, 5:20

    this stuff is creepy to swim in. There was a toxic red tide in the Cove in 1903; reassurances that the stuff isn’t “usually” toxic are not reassuring. Also, the Big Fish would have a hard time distinguishing a swimmer from a tasty seal….

  32. GAIL said on Saturday, July 1, 2006, 8:00

    HEY THESE COMMENTS ARE FROM 2003. HAS IT STARTED NOW 2006? WENT BY THE BEACHES STARTING IN DEL MAR AND GOING NORTH NOTHING. HAS ANYONE SEEN ANYTHING LATELY?

  33. Joe Crawford said on Saturday, July 1, 2006, 8:30

    Hi Gail — I don’t think it’s something that necessarily happens every year. I would watch the news, san diego blog, and google news for “red tide” being mentioned for San Diego. You can set up this search: “red tide” “san diego” on google news as a newsalert and get it delivered whenever the news strikes.

  34. Jessie Gossett said on Tuesday, June 19, 2007, 15:01

    I live in Texas & on vacation I think in 1964 I was visiting my mother in Ventura, Calif. She set up a camp at Malibu beach & one night we set up to Grunion fish as the tide brouhgt them in. The tide glowed beautiful. I had never seen such a sight. My mother called it the “Phorphporus Tide”. I had never heard of it nor have I since. Is this the same as the “red tide” that you guys are talking about! I have been trying to tell people about it lately & they do not believe me.

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