Departing of the red sea

VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

If you’ve been to the beach at night in the last couple of months,

you probably saw it. Bright flashes of light illuminated each

crashing wave in a rolling neon cascade. Moonlit waves sparkled and

flashed with a glowing green bioluminescence. And if you stomped on

the wet sand, green lightning bolts shot out from your feet.

But by day, a band of brownish red stretched hundreds of feet

offshore, turning the normally white waves brown and sending ugly

piles of frothy protein scum blowing across the sand.

Beautiful by night, ugly by day, these phenomena were due to the

same thing -- a red tide.

As you’re probably aware, a red tide is simply a bloom of

phytoplankton. Most are dinoflagellates, but some are diatoms. Uh oh,

we can see your eyeballs rolling already.

Dinoflagellates are itsy bitsy round things with two or more

whip-like flagella that they use to propel themselves. They have

chlorophyll and make oxygen. Diatoms have silica shells. They’re what

diatomaceous earth is made of. In case you were wondering what

phytoplankton are good for, they produce an estimated 80% of the

oxygen on this planet.

When these organisms over-reproduce, we get a red tide. The lovely

green light they produce at night is bioluminescence. Enzymes,

substrates and energy are involved, but that’s boring. Bottom line is

that when dinoflagellates are disturbed, the sacs holding the enzymes

break, a chemical reaction occurs and the critters emit a sparkle of

light. What we don’t know is why, although some think it is to foil

predators.

Peter Franks of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography

told us that the current red tide started in August with a bloom of a

different organism than the one that is out there now. The August

“red tide” was actually a green tide that was caused by

non-bioluminescing green algae. They formed long bands of

yellow-green slime on the water that dispersed with the wind.

Anyway, sometime in late August or early September, the bloom of

green algae gave way to a bloom of dinoflagellates called

Lingulodinium polyedrum. That’s what has been growing and glowing off

our shores for the past many weeks. These red tides are thought to be

related to an excess of nutrients in the water, generally the result

of human activity.

We hear that the current red tide is nearly over. If you missed

the show, don’t worry. Mother Nature does reruns.

Some red tide organisms produce toxins, but Lingulodinium

polyedrum isn’t supposed to be one of them. Out of the many thousands

of species of phytoplankton, only a handful produce harmful toxins.

Health problems for us humans occur when we consume shellfish that

have been feeding on toxic red tide organisms. Then we are subject to

a variety of shellfish poisoning syndromes.

Some people believe that even breathing sea spray contaminated

with certain red tide organisms can cause eye irritation, skin

discomfort and sore throats. Some of the residents who live along the

Talbert Channel complained of headaches and other health problems

recently, related to something in the channel that killed the fish.

Testing showed a lack of oxygen in the water, which would be expected

during a red tide. Although phytoplankton produce oxygen, when they

die, decomposition consumes it.

While there is no proof that the human health problems along the

channel were related to the red tide, it’s possible. However, the

organism that was causing this summer’s red tide isn’t known to be

toxic, so a chemical spill is another possibility.

Marine mammals and birds also can be harmed by red tides. One type

of diatom produces domoic acid, which can cause reversible

neurological damage in animals that are exposed to it. When we get

red tide blooms of those diatoms, the seals, sea lions and marine

birds start washing up on the beaches.

We have some personal experience in this area. During a red tide a

couple of years ago, Vic and I found an obviously sick pelagic

cormorant sitting on the mudflats at Bolsa Chica. These birds never

come ashore in a lagoon unless they are sick or injured. Mistakenly

thinking it had a broken wing, I decided to pick it up and take it to

the Wildlife Care Center. Therein lies a tale.

Having learned the proper way of handling injured wildlife during

the 1990 oil spill, I sidled up to the bird and distracted it with my

right hand. I quickly grabbed it with my left hand, tucking it under

my left arm so it couldn’t injure itself further by flapping its

wings. I made sure to hold the beak closed with my right hand,

because a wild bird will defend itself.

Unfortunately, one of its wings weren’t quite secured, so I let go

of the beak just long enough to tuck the wing safely under my arm.

Big mistake. The second I let go of its beak, the cormorant attacked

the first thing it saw. Unfortunately, that was my left breast. That

cormorant shook me like a hapless fish. Somehow, I kept sight of the

goal of rescuing it and held tight while prying its beak loose.

The diagnosis was red tide neurotoxin injury. After three days of

flushing the toxins from its body by force-feeding, the bird was

ready for release back into the wild. I had a bruised chest for weeks

afterward. The dangers associated with red tides can be highly

variable.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].