Environmental Effects Of Red Tides

Red tides have been an ongoing environmental problem for our ocean waters wildlife. Red tide is a phenomenon caused by harmful algal blooms that occur when colonies of algae (simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater) grow so numerous that they discolor coastal waters (resulting in the name “red tide”). These large algal blooms of toxic producing dinoflagellates (single-celled organisms that are able to form nutritional organic substances from inorganic substances) may diminish oxygen in the waters, block sunlight that other organisms need to live and release toxins that are harmful to the health of the environment, plants, animals and humans. Main poisoned organisms that cause these blooms in the United States are Alexandrium fundyense,
Even though these red tides mostly happen in the late summer and early autumn, sometimes the time of occurrence depends on the different temporal pattern in each region. There is no single cause of red tides, but there must be an abundant amount of nutrients in the water to support the explosive growth of dinoflagellates. Coastal water pollution produced by humans, low salinity levels, and increases in sea water temperature have been contributing factors in red tides. The occurrence of red tides in some locations appear to be entirely natural like when the weather begins to get cooler, causing winds to blow, resulting in the disruption of the settled ocean floor in a process called “upwelling”. Upwellings are powerful deep currents which bring nutrients to surface waters. These currents come from nutrient-rich bottom layers of the ocean which bring massive amounts of deep-water minerals to the surfaces. Good temperature, salinity, and light conditions at the time of the upwelling, makes it very easy for the nutrients to supply poisonous organisms, thus makes it the first step to a quickly multiplying harmful algae bloom. Climatic changes greatly affect the frequency of occurrences because it takes cool winds and a cool climatic temperature for the upwelling to occur. The waters also have to be at a higher temperature, if the waters are too cold, the developing of nutrients may not be able to take
When these tiny plants undergo an algal bloom, they are consumed in enormous quantities, generally by clams, mussels, and oysters, which are filter-feeding animals. These animals consume large quantities of water and filter the food, often leaving behind a high concentration of the harmful algae in their system. After a shellfish consumes the algae, a human will often consume the shellfish, leading to problems. This is why humans are often warned not to consume certain seafood in an area affected by a red tide. Cormorants (large diving birds) and pelicans died in large numbers because they were eating small fish that contained the toxic chemicals from zooplankton. Even large whales can be poisoned by algal toxins. Florida hit a new record in 2013 for 803 manatee deaths. The leading killer of these endangered mammals was the toxin in the algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico.( ) 803 manatee deaths were documented between January 1st, 2013 to December 13th, 2013. ( ) That is 16 percent of 5,000 manatees in the state. In 2014, thousands of fish were killed In Florida’s waters because of the algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico. ( ). Red tides were officially recorded in 1844 in