"Red Tide"

(which causes the muddy looking water during the day – and the amazing greenish-blue flashes in the waves at night – best seen in very dark areas – our spotlight turns off at 10pm)

Don’t worry – the west coast version is not toxic

The red color of the water in a red tide is caused by a type of plankton, specifically one of quite a few species of dinoflagellates, single-celled organisms that have characteristics of both plants and animals. Dinoflagellates, like other phytoplankton, create their own food through photosynthesis, a plantlike behavior. However, they don’t have roots, stems, leaves, or seeds, and they do have the ability to move (thanks to a pair of hairlike appendages called flagella)—thus making them more like animals. Although the dinoflagellates are often found in ocean water in very small quantities, sometimes the conditions of heat, sunlight, salinity, water currents, and so on are just right, and the organisms multiply extremely rapidly, creating a reddish or brownish algae bloom.

All dinoflagellates are not created equal. The variety that causes the glowing waters in California is Noctiluca scintillans, which by itself is relatively harmless. However, on the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico it often appears together with the less colorful but more toxic Gonyaulax catenella. The latter, along with other non-bioluminescent species of dinoflagellates such as Gonyaulax tamarenis (which appears in the Atlantic Northeast) and Karenia brevis (which appears in the Gulf of Mexico), are responsible for the dire warnings; they produce toxins that can cause illness or death if consumed. These red tides not only make shellfish unsafe for humans, they kill fish, manatees, dolphins, and other marine life.

Please e-mail any comments or ideas for this web site or for Del Mar Shores by clicking here (or by sending an e-mail to delmarshores@jumpingdolphins.com). Also, please e-mail us if you want to know when we make significant updates to this web site (about every three months). We do not need your name or address, and your e-mail address will only be used for this purpose and not provided to anyone else.

Del Mar Shores Home Page	Rentals & Sales	Guidelines for Owners/Renters	Guidelines for Contractors/Workers
Frequently Asked	Safety	CC&R's	Management
Annual Reports & Meeting Minutes	Links to Condo Living Web Sites	Our Solana Beach	Links to Local Interest Web Sites