My first post is about a species that was featured in the news a few weeks ago for closing one of the worlds most famous beaches, Bondi Beach in Australia.
Name: Nociluca scintillans
Common Name: Sea Sparkle
Type of Organism: Single Cell Eukaryote (Protist)
Species: Algae (Kingdom: Dinoflagellate)
Species: Algae (Kingdom: Dinoflagellate)
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| Image from Google (TM) |
These minute creatures are typically anywhere from 200µ to 2000µ at their widest point (so only about 0.2mm to 2mm). So how did they manage to close 2 beaches in Sydney?
Well, during rare occasions, when cold water rapidly rises to the surface (bringing plenty of nutritious plankton with it), large blooms of Sea Sparkle appear.
These large blooms contain millions upon millions of these single cell algae, which turn the ocean red with their bioluminescence, giving rise to their nickname of 'Red Tides'. The Bioluminescence is caused by chemical reactions involving tiny organelles called scintillons, which produce light as a by-product. Beaches frequented by humans are closed during these events as large amounts of harmful ammonia is excreted by the blooms.
Sources:
BBC News
Wikipedia
Google Images
The Telegraph
Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Ocean (produced by DK)
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| Bondi Beach during the most recent bloom (Image from The Telegraph website. Photo by William West) |
These large blooms contain millions upon millions of these single cell algae, which turn the ocean red with their bioluminescence, giving rise to their nickname of 'Red Tides'. The Bioluminescence is caused by chemical reactions involving tiny organelles called scintillons, which produce light as a by-product. Beaches frequented by humans are closed during these events as large amounts of harmful ammonia is excreted by the blooms.
Sources:
BBC News
Wikipedia
Google Images
The Telegraph
Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Ocean (produced by DK)
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