Marea roja

Red tide in Cabo Estai

Marea roja
Foto: Francisco Rodríguez (IEO)

On Tuesday afternoon we received notice of a large orange spot near the Cíes Islands. The stain, besides extending by surface more than 300 meters in length, also formed a thick layer in the water column of approximately 10 meters of depth. Due to the oceanographic conditions, the spot was moving inside the estuary and yesterday afternoon we observed a red tide in the area of Cabo Estai (Canido), in front of the IEO of Vigo. The identification of the responsible organism was done with the naked eye and also by optical microscopy and turned out to be Noctiluca scintillans, a bioluminescent organism responsible for the “ardora”.

Marea roja de Noctiluca
Marea roja de Noctiluca en Marina Dávila Sport (Bouzas, Vigo). Autor: Manuel E. Garci
Marea roja de Noctiluca
Marea roja de Noctiluca en Marina Dávila Sport (Bouzas, Vigo). Autor: Manuel E. Garci