I have been trying to discover why the Sound is so full of creepy reddish algae right now. I have searched the Seattle Times and all the papers around here as well as the web, but am not seeing it mentioned anywhere. I traveled over to Bremerton last Saturday (a 80 degree day) and the Sound looked like a hideous vegetable soup with so much of this reddish flora (and fauna?) in the water you would not want to swim in it, even if you were a fish. I have never seen it soo nasty. Right along with the floating crud was dozens of moon jellies and egg yolk jellies. They were floating about a food UNDER the surface of the water which I found odd, since I usually see them right on the surface and for the last 11 months have hardly even seen them at all. Why is this all happening right at this time? Is it because of the warmer weather? Did all this stuff come up off the bottom as a result of the very low tides we had two weeks ago? I can’t find anything about it. If you are reading this and know the answer, send me a link.
There is evidence that a large jellyfish swarm is brought on by low oxygen levels in the water. Puget Sound is full of algae right now!
July 8, 2009 · 2 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
2 responses so far ↓
Sarah // August 5, 2009 at 4:59 am |
It sounds like you are describing a red tide. The algae gives off a neurotoxin that kills off marine life and also lowers the oxygen level. Jellies are a very old life form. Maybe they are immune to the toxins but hang low so as to avoid getting tangled in the mess. Thank your lucky stars if you have never been stung by one. one brushed up against my leg when I was a kid. It was agonizing.
candacelange // August 5, 2009 at 3:27 pm |
Yes the red tide is definitly present here in the sound. When I crossed on the Kingston Ferry two weeks ago, the water looked like barf! So thick with vegetable matter you could hardly see into it. I dont think it bothers the jellys at all, but of course loads of other fauna are sickened or killed by it. If Vancouver BC would treat their sewage, and the big damned cruise ships would stop flushing their toilets at the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the red tide (and the growing dead zones) would disappear. But of course that would be too much trouble for Vancouver and the ships, so it just does not happen…………..