Red Tide

[spectrum]

In my NAUI Rescue Diver materials it is stated that diving in Red Tide is a health hazzard.

Here in Maine we get bouts of Red Tide (Paralytic Shellfish Poison). The public heath stance has been that it if not a bathing or diving issue. The problem arrises when shellfish concentrate the poison. I have made skin and scuba dives in blooms without issue.

Red Tide does sound like an easilly coined name so my question is: Are there other marine conditions known as red tide?

Pete

 

[knotical]

AFAIK, you’re right on both counts. More than one organism blooms into so-called “red-tides”, in various parts of the world.
And generally you have to eat a concentrating organism to get ill.
See: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/illness/illness.html

 

[archman]

If the dinophyte bloom is big enough, it can indeed be a hazard to bathers and divers. If you're in or anywhere around the water full of these things, the aerosolized toxins can cause coughing, wheezing, and other respiratory distress. Especially in coastal areas, where more cells rupture from the chop and surf.

Your eyes can also get messed up. Like secondhand teargas, almost. Yuk.

Algal blooms made up of cells with sharp, spiny skeletons can cause irritating rashes and other skin conditions. Some diatoms are well known for this... and some dinophytes to a lesser extent.