The great red tide is also known as algal blooms, because this reddish effect is formed by a large amount of intense red unicellular algae that expand in coastal waters and cause an intense coloration on the surface of the sea.
Blooms can cause great changes in the color of the water, because microalgae have pigments (which allow them to photosynthesize), turning the waters red, yellow, green or brown. For this reason, these phenomena are known worldwide as “red tides”.
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Red algae
In the sea, microalgae constitute the base of the food chain, since they are the main food of species such as filter feeders. Under certain environmental conditions, such as water temperature, salinity, luminosity and availability of nutrients, these proliferate explosively, causing a phenomenon known as Algal Blooms or “Bloom”, which are generally beneficial for the Marine life.
Practically all these algae are harmless , but they increase the toxic substances in marine waters, which causes the death of thousands of fish, birds and other mammalian animals with a marine ecosystem. In addition, the red tide deteriorates the vegetation with an ecological impact on the coasts, so maritime sectors that live off fishing are also affected.
A red tide is an excessive proliferation of microalgae in lakes, rivers, sea or other body of water, produced by the same or different types of microalgae present, achieving a high number of growth (thousands or millions of cells per cubic millimeter).
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