…Had some fun surf up here in SF on Fri and Sat. Mostly obscured by the thick fog the crowds were light and wind as well. During periods of clearing I could see huge patches of red orange from the cliffs as I looked south toward Pacifica. I was impressed by the brilliant color…Ive never seen red tide this vivid up here. This shot is from Half Moon Bay.
[img_assist|nid=1054062|title=red tide|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=425]
Scum from Outer Space. Which, I suppose, might be better than it being Chum from Right There...
There's this weird fuzzy looking crap on desert vegetation in parts of California and Nevada and maybe other places that is some form of non-native parasitic plant...looks like the same color.
Nels
Never seen that color before. Looks like shark repellent downed pilots had in the military, also came in day-glo green. Wouldn’t it be great if it were a huge bloom of lobster fry? Is there any sea grass there? I don’t remember.
Nels, I think you are referring to; Dodder. It’s a parasitic plant that grows mostly on Ca. Buckwheat or Sumac. Mostly found in Chaparral. Found during springtime and early summer.
W.T.F.O.???
Really neat picture! That is not your traditional red tide
which is usually a dinoflagellate or single celled red algae and
usually a duller red color. I believe that it is a bloom of krill and
you should have some rather large visitors soon!! We had at least 3
feeding (on krill) blue whales in the channel off Catalina Island this
weekend and they were headed your way! Krill and pelagic red crabs
are the only animals that I know that would naturally tint the water
that very bright red color.
If it is artificial, that's another matter!! Try to get more pics, that is
too cool.as that usually doesn't occur close to shore........