Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Message Board - Red Tide Monday Update

Red Tide Monday Update (reply)

Casa Juan — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 18:33:35 +0000

maybe the influx of cooler water helped.?

Unrelated, flying from Houston to Zihua in Feb along the Mexican Gulf of Mexico shore there appeared to be a bunch of red tide from the air as we lowered in the small United plane to avoid some rough air.

Red Tide Monday Update (reply)

Talley Ho — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 17:57:27 +0000

This morning on our paddle the water still wasn't clear, but there was none of the dark coloration that we had yesterday. Obviously it has eased up.

Red Tide (reply)

Curbarn — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:52:11 +0000

i noticed the bloom yesterday as well.

Red Tide (reply)

Talley Ho — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 03:23:20 +0000

Being formerly from California, red tide time meant going to the beach after dark. One of my first memories was shaking a jar of beach sand in my closet and watching it glow, I was probably 4. Any question as to why I studied marine biology in college?

At least in California, when it was dark, even dog footprints would glow like magic. If conditions were perfect, we could walk the beach, watch the waves and have it magically glowing very dramatically, and the dog was fully illuminated. Dolphins, Sea Lions, Elephant Seals? Unreal.

Hopefully it will be magical here. If not, that's OK. Life here is magical!

Red Tide (reply)

Quadra Paul — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 02:59:09 +0000

You are right Rob! Phosphorescence is caused by an animal called Noctiluca (sp?) and red Tide is caused by other animals!

Red Tide (reply)

Talley Ho — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 00:00:14 +0000

Your personal decision and loss.

We swim with our dogs daily and then paddle followed by a dip. Often an afternoon swim too.

Personal choice, and immune systems.

Red Tide (reply)

midalake — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 23:51:20 +0000

I personally will never swim in the bay.

Red Tide (reply)

ZihuaRob — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 21:40:13 +0000

The south end of the bay between Playa la Ropa and Playa las Gatas has so many red tide organisms that it looks like chocolate milk!

Our morning paddle started at the Links, and went across to las Gatas. The water went from sort of clear to OMG brown. Took us a few minutes to realize what we were seeing.

No oysters for us! Or bivalves of any description.

Rob, are the organisms here phosphorescent at night??? If so, tonight should be an incredible show at the south end of the bay.

The bay looks a beautiful bright blue from our vantage point, but I’ll take your word on the discoloration. As far as I know there’s no relationship between red tides and phosphorescent plankton. You can tell when the phosphorescence is high by swiping your foot across the wet sand at the water’s edge. Sometimes it sparkles brightly, other times not at all. There’s so much light pollution nowadays it’s hard to appreciate much of nature’s nighttime magic.

Red Tide

Talley Ho — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 18:07:33 +0000

The south end of the bay between Playa la Ropa and Playa las Gatas has so many red tide organisms that it looks like chocolate milk!

Our morning paddle started at the Links, and went across to las Gatas. The water went from sort of clear to OMG brown. Took us a few minutes to realize what we were seeing.

No oysters for us! Or bivalves of any description.

Rob, are the organisms here phosphorescent at night??? If so, tonight should be an incredible show at the south end of the bay.