Red Tide in San Diego

My mother told me about an interesting story. I did a Google search and found this article in the LA Times. Bio luminescent waves crash on to the shore of  San Diego beaches. This brownish red algae, commonly known as the red tide, glows an iridescent blue at night. This chemical reaction started in August of this year and possibly will continue for several more weeks or even months according to UC San Diego the algae has a mild toxin and can accumulate in some sea creatures. Although there has been an increase of complaints of sinus and ear infections since the algae arrived, the toxin is said to be harmless to humans.

I lived in Southern California until I was thirteen. I have very fond memories of when I was a child. It was almost an every day occurrence for me to go down to the beach and bask in the sun, watch the tide come in, and listen to the relaxing sounds of the waves as it hit the shore. After hearing about this article, my daughter and I watch the You Tube Video regarding the bio luminescent waves. We watched in amazement as the brilliant neon blue waves crashed onto the shore. The video and the article made me very homesick. I would have loved to be able to see the red tide in person. With Further thought and my own investigation my feelings changed. I didn’t have such a draw to go swimming in the waters, that’s for sure.

In the article it stated that there has been a rise in cases of sinus problem and ear infection since the appearance of the red tide. I would be curious to find out how many of those cases are truly related the algae or is it simply because of a high pollen count in the area. I ran a search, regarding if in fact it is dangerous to humans. I found that in fact the red tide can potentially be lethal. With further investigation, I found that people have passed away from eating shell fish that had come in contact with the algae. I think the writer of this article was doing a disservice to the general public by not stating all the facts regarding the seriousness of the toxic algae. The Algae releases an neuro-toxin that paralyzes. In fact, it has been proven that when red tide occurs in an area there is a drastic increase of death among bird, fish and animals.

I really don’t think that people should be swimming or surfing at the beach at this point of time. I believe that the beaches with the highest density of the algae should be closed until it has gone away. It’s scary to think that  families could be swimming in this possibly paralyzing water.