Red Tide off Del Mar, San Diego Coast

Thursday, June 30, 2005, 19:37 —by Joe Crawford
This item was posted in General category and has 31 Comments so far.

Based on the referrers coming into this site, there’s a Red Tide happening in the San Diego area. In 2003, San Diego experienced a a red tide and it was blogged about here.

Get some background on the phenomenon on Wikipedia’s Algal bloom page.

There are some photos on Flickr tagged with redtide, and user cgfan has several nice nice photosshowing the blue glow, in addition to further explanations.

Update 7/1/2005: Declan points to a post of his about the phenomenon in the comments here.

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31 Responses to “Red Tide off Del Mar, San Diego Coast”

  1. D said on Thursday, June 30, 2005, 23:47

    Hi - I posted some info on the red tide here:

    http://www.declan.net/?p=111

    Love your blog!

    D

  2. Joe Crawford said on Friday, July 1, 2005, 7:56

    Thanks Declan!

  3. cb said on Friday, July 1, 2005, 16:29

    Rumor has it that it’s been spotted by La Jolla Cove during the past week. I didn’t know that, however, until today. I inquired amongst my friends after reading this post, so thanks for alerting me.

    I caught the last big red tide in 2003. It was the first time I had seen it, or even really heard of it for that matter. Swimming and playing in it was such an experience that I have to make up a word to adequately describe it: stupendilicious.

    It was stupenilicious.

    A couple of snapshots from that night:

    I. When the waves wash up on shore, some of that particular algae remains behind in the sand, so when you brush your hand along it, electric blue tracers follow the movement. We signed our names in neon.

    II. Wet garments, when shed and twirled about, crackle and glow.

    III. Diving into the crashing waves was the stupenilicious-est experience of them all. It was swimming through a cool, blue, lightening storm.

    What I mean to say is that I’m going hunting tonight. I’m on a mission. Thanks for letting me know. See you all out there!

    -cb

  4. Brian Dear said on Friday, July 1, 2005, 17:39

    I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately and while flying into SD recently noticed a HUGE red bloom right off of the coast at San Onofre — literally right along the shore where the nuclear power plant is. The water was all discolored prolly a mile or more out into sea, but the most striking thing was how thick the red bloom looked at San Onfre and how quickly it diminished the further away from the nuke plant one got.

    Coincidence?

  5. Joe Crawford said on Friday, July 1, 2005, 18:22

    Pure speculation: perhaps the high temperatures of the water discharged from the plant stimulates the algae, causing a richer bloom?

    We need a biologist to weigh in on this. Bueller?

  6. n said on Sunday, July 3, 2005, 22:10

    hello :) well i went over to silverstrand this after noon to catch a little bit of surf and WOW was there a mysterious red glow coming from the water… i had never seen nething like it b4 nor heard of it until this day. it was quite interesting but im feeling a bit sick… i jus hope its not going to stay for long

  7. Joan said on Wednesday, July 6, 2005, 20:58

    I was at the beach in Carlsbad on July 3 and 4. On the 3rd I saw a school of dolphins around sunset. THEN, after the sun went down, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the waves beginning to turn a flourescent bluish green. It was beautiful. On the 4th we went back down to the beach to watch fireworks but, I have to say, the ocean’s colorful waves were a much better show!!

  8. richard said on Thursday, July 7, 2005, 16:23

    Witnessed the blue luminescent red tide at Solana Beach just north of 15th (Dog’s Beach) on July 6th, about 11pm. Very cool!

  9. kris said on Friday, July 8, 2005, 10:06

    update anyone? How’s it in la jolla and carlsbad specifically right now?

  10. KENDRA said on Monday, July 11, 2005, 12:21

    I WAS AT MISSION BEACH OVER THE HOLIDAY WITH FAMILY AND BEING FROM AZ I DONT GET TO SEE MUCH OF THE BEACH. ME AND MY HUSBAND TOOK A WALK ON THE BEACH AND AS HE WOULD STEP ONTO THE WET SAND THE SAND WOULD GLOW UNDER HIS FOOT. IT WAS QUITE THE EXPERIENCE. WE HAD TO ASK AROUND TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON. IT WAS ACTUALLY KINDA SCARY!!!

  11. Caro said on Tuesday, July 12, 2005, 11:06

    I have never seen anything like it before. Can you still see the red tide? Where do I need to go to see it? Please let me know! Thanks,
    Caro

  12. T.O. said on Tuesday, July 12, 2005, 13:24

    I was at Carlsbad State beach campground last night and it was still there. The waves were glowing brightly. I heard that Oceanside harbor is having a fish kill there due to the red tide being strong and not flushing out of the harbor. My friend runs a boat from there and reported lobsters crawling out of the water and dying on the rocks because they cant deal with the gross water.

    The red tide may be pretty but it’s not good for the majority of the stuff that lives in the water.

  13. Julie said on Wednesday, July 13, 2005, 18:32

    Is it still around? We want to take our kids to see it. Can someone please inform and maybe even recommend a beach in Oceanside/Carlsbad area?

  14. jeremy said on Friday, July 15, 2005, 0:26

    anyone spotted the tide lately?

  15. Catrina said on Friday, July 15, 2005, 6:04

    I was checking the net to find out about the red tide in San Diego as my brother lives there.. Here on the west coast of FL we find nothing at all beautiful about the red tide in the Gulf of Mexico as it produces respitory problems in humans and can cause problems in animals. I swam a few minutes in the water and ended up with a rash. The fish kill last for weeks and the smell is horrendous. My joints hurt, had cracked lips and a yeast infection. Also my joints ached and had a stomach infection and no energy.

  16. mkell said on Saturday, July 16, 2005, 23:53

    A friend swam in it yestreday and got mild flu symptoms; could be a coincidence. There did seem to be a lot more trash in the water at Coronado Beach today than normal. It was filthy!

  17. Bross said on Sunday, July 17, 2005, 1:33

    Went out to Carlsbad State Beach this evening and the greenish glow was still there. The waves that broke furthest from shore glowed brightly although the waves closer to shore didn’t and the sand didn’t light up either. So the algae may be going out to sea. The last time I saw this was about 20 years ago in Monterey.

  18. matt said on Tuesday, July 19, 2005, 13:44

    well the red tide is all over the orange county beachs. i was at daina point on july 4th for the fire works and yes the water was glowing from the boats every where and the other day i was in seal beach and what do you know brown every where the sun fell and the water would glow every time it was moved. so i was woundering how far it went down got in my car and went to balbo pier and yup the waves crashing would be glowing and the fish at the end of the pier would run leaving a glowing trial

  19. Denise said on Monday, July 25, 2005, 22:42

    July 19th in Dana Point overlooking the beach at the Ritz Carlton - it was alive with color and lights from the red tide! Beautiful. Had a show for about 45 minutes at the shoreline, and then started seeing big, beautiful balls of light floating up to the surface way out in the ocean. Awesome.

  20. Liza said on Thursday, August 4, 2005, 14:57

    Traveling to San Diego on August 13th. Is the red tide still there. How is snorkeling at La Jolla cove today?

  21. David said on Sunday, August 7, 2005, 20:10

    I’m a med student with a degree in biology. When I went to UCSD for undergrad, I took a marine biochemistry course. There are several different types of red tide. Occasionally you will hear about strange illnesses associated with such marine blooms, but fear not, I have never heard that the SD red tides are harmful. And the water quality and safety of the southern California coast is continuously monitored for harmful pathogens like fecal coliforms. It is not known what causes red tides and it may be that there are different phytoplankton which respond to different environmental factors including population size and growth, ample food supply, water temperature and turbidity. I had never considered that the San Onofre plant might contribute to these blooms, but it is a very intriguiging solution. As you head north, the bloom should grow in intensity (this was how it was in 2003). It is the single most beautiful thing I have seen in nature. Get out there and play.

  22. Danny said on Monday, August 8, 2005, 7:15

    I’ve read that the San Diego red tides are harmless, but each time I’ve gone surfing during the red tides, I have experienced congestion, and muscle aches the following day (similar to mild flu symptoms). Anyone else have similar experiences?

  23. Silvertooth said on Wednesday, August 10, 2005, 17:07

    I was in Carlsbad this past weekend and saw it–unbelieveable! We went to old Carlsbad Village away from the lights, and in we went! Shorts and bikinis came off and we had a blast watching our parts leave a glowing trail. Moving your hand through the water is enough to cause the reaction so it looks like you’re surrounded by blue LEDs under the surface. The only side effects were sleepiness, nausea, and dry mouth the next day, but that may have been from the vast amounts of alcohol before we went in. If you can get in the water while this is happening, you’ve GOT to experience it!

  24. jp said on Thursday, August 11, 2005, 0:40

    I went surfing at Del Mar today and experienced this nasty red tide for the first time.
    It was horrible, especially with those rare black jelly fish visit of this yr. You can’t see what’s in the water… I had some minor burning sensations, but nothing significant.

  25. cynlouhoo said on Saturday, August 13, 2005, 16:18

    We visited Mission Beach on August 10th and were very disappointed to see the red tide AND the jellyfish! We only had one day on our trip for the beach, so we went in despite the yukky water. I did NOT enjoy seeing those black jelly fish around me every now and then and not being able to watch where they were. One big purple striped jellyfish was spotted close to the shore and created quite a stir. Hopefully the next time we visit San Diego we are able to enjoy clear water. I’m sure it is very beautiful.

  26. Buckaroo said on Sunday, August 14, 2005, 19:52

    This morning, the blue glow of red tide was not as strong as it was the previous weekend.

  27. nk said on Monday, August 15, 2005, 11:11

    can someone tell me when it’s leaving?

    I’m sick of this - I think there was one nice weekend so far this summer when the ocean was “normal” and there were no jelly fish.

  28. kitch said on Tuesday, August 16, 2005, 19:08

    I live on silver strand and have noticed the red tides, but today I have noticed a very foul odor, especially around the Naval Amphibious Base. Is this smell coming from the water?

  29. Kerrilynn Yaali-Benson said on Saturday, December 24, 2005, 3:50

    Hi, this reply is quite late, but I think this will be useful info for future red tides.
    I came across this blog while simply surfing and I am amazed at the fact that alot of people don’t know what a red tide is, and more concerned at the fact that people have swam “in” the red tide. I’m confused as to why there was no warning posted on the beach or did the swimmers simply ignore the warning signs?
    (I am a graduate in Marine Sciences and my research thesis was on the organism that causes the red tide)
    In reference to David’s posting above regarding the red tide phenomenon, I’d like to add a few things. The phytoplankton that cause red tide produce toxins that kill fish by the hundreds, and ingesting any shellfish that might have grazed on these phytoplankton may cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning. While there is no hard evidence or research ( i haven’t come across any lately) that specifically show how people react when in direct contact with these organisms, there have been anecdotal evidence and reports that people who swim in red tides or inhale air dispersed with these toxins have experienced symptoms ranging from the flu-like sneezing and coughing, shortness of breath, temporary nausea, skin rashes, giddiness and irritation of the eyes, therefore, it is not really a coincidence(This is info for mkell, post July 16th)..which would make sense, since the plankton produces some they “could” become slightly aerosolised when crashed around by waves, swimmers, etc. So I wouldn’t advice people to go out there and play..
    Swimming in the tides may be fun and not fatally dangerous,but if you don’t feel like ruining your surfing/ holiday/ whatever, its probably best to stay out of the algal bloom. Scientists don’t call it “Harmful Algal Bloom” for nothing.

  30. Kite said on Thursday, January 26, 2006, 11:19

    As http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/learning/learning_res/creature_features/redtide.cfm says, “The species usually responsible for the red tide off San Diego’s coast is not known to be toxic and should pose no health hazard. Locally, the last recorded toxic bloom was in 1902.” Our red tides don’t cause those massive fish kills, and the organism responsible has been repeatedly reported as non-toxic.

  31. Broots said on Saturday, June 23, 2007, 23:02

    I’m a nood at beaches and I am moving to Carlsbad soon… My wife is all hyped about the beaches and the way she speaks is that she’ll be spending all her days there with the kids. I’m concerned about jellyfish and I am wondering what else is dangerous in the waters… Are jellyfish there during a specific period of time or is it random… And should I really worry about that stuff ?

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