CARLSBAD, CA — A red tide offshore Southern California is causing beaches in San Diego County to light up blue at night.
Bioluminescent waves have been spotted along the coastline, from Baja California to Los Angeles. Patch editor Maggie Fusek captured the photos above and video below Wednesday night from Ocean Street, near Beach Terrace Inn, in Carlsbad.
The phenomenon is caused when large numbers of dinoflagellates form a bloom. Dinoflagellates use bioluminescence as a predator avoidance behavior, according to bioluminescence expert Michael Latz, a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
The current red tide is due to aggregations of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra, Latz said. The species is known for its bioluminescent displays.
Red tides are unpredictable and not all of them produce bioluminescence. Scientists do not know how long the latest display will last. Local red tides have lasted for days like in May 2018, or for one to two weeks like the red tides in September 2013 and June 2019, Latz said.
Click Here: cheap all stars rugby jersey