I learned today that south west Florida has been suffering some serious red tides in recent years. Not only are there harmful effects on the sea life but the blooms are giving off airborne toxins which have no odour but cause severe coughing in some people and have serious implications for asthma sufferers.. The worst effects seem to have occurred last spring.

I note also that some similar red tides have been detected along the west coast of Africa.

Does anyone have any info about the potential for red tides around the shores of the Algarve? Yikes, I hope not.

We get red tides in the Oman coastal waters during the hot summers when the warm water (sometimes bath temperature high) seems to encourage the algal bloom. I've never heard of toxic gases being given off and one of my friends is asthmatic and has never suffered as a consequence. A few people seem to suffer a slight skin reaction if they swim through the bloom - itching and rash, but this normally tends to be fairly mild. Red tide seems to accumulate when the sea is flat calm and is quickly broken up and dissipated when the sea roughs-up. I would guess that there is a lesser chance of accumulation on the Algarve coast given the cooler Atlantic ocean temperatures and generally rougher conditions west of Gibralter and on the west coast.

SHOWWWIE wrote:I learned today that south west Florida has been suffering some serious red tides in recent years. Not only are there harmful effects on the sea life but the blooms are giving off airborne toxins which have no odour but cause severe coughing in some people and have serious implications for asthma sufferers.. The worst effects seem to have occurred last spring.

I note also that some similar red tides have been detected along the west coast of Africa.

Does anyone have any info about the potential for red tides around the shores of the Algarve? Yikes, I hope not.

Showwie,
http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/redtides/
also supplies an information (24hrs)ltelephone line
What concerns me is that I absolutely enjoy any size of prawn "Shell fish".
Nightrider
ps Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Red tide does occur here and in fact caused me some embarrassment last year.
Mid-August I was flying one my aerial sight-seeing trips and reported what I thought to be an oil spill about 500 metres off the coast between Rocha Brava and the mouth of the Arade - only to be told on landing that it was in fact red plankton.
This year I have not seen it - possibly because we had winds and rougher seas in August.

Thanks, folks.

Yes, Rampage, that was my thought too.

Nightrider, thanks for the link to the South African experience.

Roy4's observation is a little discouraging, though it happened in summer. It puzzles me that Florida gets severe occurrences in March. Those gulf coast waters must be very warm.