The Super-sized Sea and Its Colour

I am supposed to do my usual evening swim today. As I look out at the horizon and assess the water, I decide to skip swimming today. The water is too rough and the weather is just too windy and cloudy. It is not bright enough to allow good visibility in the water. So I climb up Lucky and sit on it to watch the sea instead.

The sea is a fascinating and an intriguing scene to see. It gives me the chance to zoom out and see the big picture out of life. I scan through my mind to spot on the things that stir of late. At work, there is this loud Egyptian engineer who challenged my authority after I challenged his way of work. The confrontation was unpleasant and he really pissed me off. At home, my apartment is a mess. There is a pile of laundry waiting. There are so many things to be picked up on the floor and there is so much sand on my balcony after the last sand storm. I hate it when I have to tip toe in my own living quarter. There are my dying orchids. My age, how I have aged and the many undone items in the mental list. With the sea is in front of me and its vastness, my issues are now becoming too tiny to be mentioned.




In the mood of seeing the big picture with the sea in front of me, I have down-sized all the above issues and thought about the report I read recently in the news. The 'red tide' has hit the northern coast of UAE. It has been reported that a desalination plant in Ras Al Khaimah has been sealed off as a result of the spread of the 'red tide'. In this arid desert land, if we can't have water from the desalination plants over a long period of time, it can be a threat to life sustainability. Of course, the red tide is over now in Ras Al Khaimah and I see no sign of it from the waterfront of Dubai. It is a blessing but there is a need to know more and be aware of what might come to revisit our shore in the future. So I google for the answers for some questions that I have.

No matter how big you think are and how big your problems seem to be, you're still small next to the sea.

What is 'red tide'?
It is a naturally-occurring, higher-than-normal concentration of the microscopic algae Karenia brevis (formerly Gymnodinium breve). This organism produces a toxin that affects the central nervous system of fish so that they are paralyzed and cannot breathe. As a result, red tide blooms often result in dead fish washing up on Gulf beaches. When red tide algae reproduce in dense concentrations or "blooms," they are visible as discolored patches of ocean water, often reddish in color. "Red tide" is a colloquial term used to refer to a natural phenomenon known as a "harmful algal bloom" or "HAB". The term "red tide" is being phased out among researchers for the following reasons. The red tides are not necessarily red and many have no discolouration at all. They are unrelated to movements of the tides and a wide variety of algal species are known bloom-formers.

What can cause it?
Red tide is a natural phenomenon not caused by human beings. When temperature, salinity, and nutrients reach certain levels, a massive increase in Karenia brevis algae occurs. No one knows the exact combination of factors that causes red tide, but some experts believe high temperatures combined with a lack of wind and rainfall are usually at the root of red tide blooms.

Can we control it?
There are no known ways that humans can control it, but many scientists around the world are studying red tide at present.

How does it affect mankind?
It can cause eye and throat irritation due to the high concentrations of the algae. It's usually okay to eat fish, crabs and shrimp during a red tide bloom because the toxin is not absorbed into the fleshy tissues of these animals. Oysters and other shellfish such as clams, mussels, whelks and scallops can accumulate red tide toxins in their tissues. People that eat oysters or other shellfish containing red tide toxins may become seriously ill with neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP). Once a red tide appears to be over, toxins can remain in the oysters for weeks to months. It has the potential to destroy the corals, reduce the fish population and cause losses to the fishermen.

Image from Google : An aeriel view of 'Red Tide' approaching the coastline

Image from Google : Another aeriel view of the 'Red Tide' attack

Image from Google : The red sea caused by the 'Red Tide' phenomenon



"No phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon" Niels Bohr.