undersea Kat
Registered
Can anyone tell me the time and or cycle of an algae bloom? example yesterday was great vis 40ft today was starting to get murky vis about 15 ft when should it clear off again?
bloom ?
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Scubachick69
Registered
In general blooms occur most frequently in Spring and Autumn. The beasties that cause low viz for divers are generally phytoplankton, which are basically the equivilent of grass on land. Just like on land, these grasses need fertiliser and light to grow.
A bloom occurs in Spring because there are lots of nutrients (fertiliser!) in the waters which have been stirred up from the bottom sands by winter storms. When Spring comes, the water starts to warm up and there is more light. It is the combination of the correct balance of nutrients and light that cause a bloom. Too much or too little of either one and the bloom will stop again. The optimal conditions may last for weeks, days or hours. The weather will play a large part here.
Smaller blooms can occur in Autumn at the onset of the first few storms. Again, there is plenty of light, but the storms stirr up the nuitrents from the bottom.
for more information check out:http://www.marine.ie/media+centre/p...al+blooms+reported+along+south-west+coast.htm
A bloom occurs in Spring because there are lots of nutrients (fertiliser!) in the waters which have been stirred up from the bottom sands by winter storms. When Spring comes, the water starts to warm up and there is more light. It is the combination of the correct balance of nutrients and light that cause a bloom. Too much or too little of either one and the bloom will stop again. The optimal conditions may last for weeks, days or hours. The weather will play a large part here.
Smaller blooms can occur in Autumn at the onset of the first few storms. Again, there is plenty of light, but the storms stirr up the nuitrents from the bottom.
for more information check out:http://www.marine.ie/media+centre/p...al+blooms+reported+along+south-west+coast.htm
MarkH
Contributor
If you are talking about Saanich Inlet, I had a talk with a local pilot/diver awhile ago, and he said that he often sees patches of plankton bloom from the air. Other areas in the inlet may be clear. The next day, he sometimes sees the plankton blooms in a different area, so I'm guessing they can drift around.undersea Kat:
:06:
The bloom has been really bad in the Saanich inlet this year. I don't know how many time I got all suit up and jump in the water to totally waste my time. It's not too bad if it cleared under 50 fsw, but I 've done dive at Willis or Henderson Pt as deep as 120 fsw and It never cleared. Then two days later I get a 60 or better viz. I guest my only ***** is that you don't know how it's gonna be until you are diving.
The bloom has been really bad in the Saanich inlet this year. I don't know how many time I got all suit up and jump in the water to totally waste my time. It's not too bad if it cleared under 50 fsw, but I 've done dive at Willis or Henderson Pt as deep as 120 fsw and It never cleared. Then two days later I get a 60 or better viz. I guest my only ***** is that you don't know how it's gonna be until you are diving.
The blooms are caused by nutrient load and sunshine. They start in the spring as the days lengthen and the nutrients in the Gulf of Georgia come to sea from the river run off, mixing of bottom sediment contributes little as the mixing band (area of bottom that can get stirred up) is very small. Plankton builds through the summer until it depletes the nutrient load then it crashes. The crash is called the mid summer die off and water can become remarkably clear, vis can turn to 50 ft almost over night, then it starts to build again as the die off added nutrients to the water. Spot blooms are more complex and less understood but may inundate a bay where the next bay has much better vis, they have to due with availability of nutrients though.
The reason vis can be bad in winter is fresh water influx which loads the water with silt from the rivers, the fine till can stay suspended for a long time and contributes to the spring nutrient load. Near shore marine bio 101.
The reason vis can be bad in winter is fresh water influx which loads the water with silt from the rivers, the fine till can stay suspended for a long time and contributes to the spring nutrient load. Near shore marine bio 101.
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