Beach Report 5/26/21

Skye and I were on our own again today. It's warm here, high 80s - low 90s at home, but much cooler at the beach thanks to a brisk south east breeze.

The color you see in the water is not an artifact, we are experiencing a significant red or mahogany tide, caused by dinoflagellates. Not especially harmful here in most cases, they are a sign of eutrophication.

We caught the best part of the low tide, and managed to walk up to the big slides at Matoaka. Tooth hunting was OK, 16 sharks teeth, including this best of the year Cow Shark tooth, a stingray barb and the almost requisite crab claw. The Cow Shark tooth would have been even better in the root were mostly intact.

You can see the water is clear here, further up the beach. The red tide formed a narrow band about 50 yards wide on just one area of the shore. 

Mahogany Tide Kills Annapolis Fish

Brown Tide, Fish Kills Reported In Anne Arundel Waterways

City officials reported a fish kill and brown tide in area waterways. Heavy rainfall will help with dilution, since area creeks don't flush well with the tides. According to the city, nutrient loads need to be reduced in order to avoid toxic algae blooms. Residents are encouraged to pick up pet waste, reduce the use of fertilizer and reduce impervious surfaces.

The red tide, brown tide or mahogany tide is caused by a microscopic algae that is common this time of year. Rising temperatures contribute to the growth of this algae, the city noted. Fish usually swim to safer waters, but fish kills do happen. It is safer not to fish or swim in waters affected by the brown tide, although it normally is not toxic to humans, the city noted.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Prorocentrum blooms occur each spring in the mid-salinity waters of the Chesapeake Bay at varying intensities. The DNR shared that the cells are typically delivered to the upper Chesapeake Bay in spring by traveling in the up-bay moving, higher salinity bottom waters from the lower Bay. As waters mix and upwell in the mid and upper Bay, cells are delivered to nutrient and light rich surface waters and commonly result in areas of Mahogany tides. Although the blooms are usually most intense during the spring, they have occurred in almost every month of the year. Prorocentrum has also been identified in Maryland's Coastal Bays, the DNR noted.

In addition to warm weather, which definately promotes their growth, Prorocentrum and similar red tide dinpflagellates also like relatively still water. Having flagella they are capable of movement, but only very slowly. This gives them the ability to migrate up and down to find the best combination of light, temperature and nutrient conditions. Too much wind mixing makes that difficult.

The harbor has a pretty good mahogany tide going now, even though the nearby beach water is relatively clear.

Eagles and Moths at the Beach

 I'll start off this beach report with a Bald Eagle sighting.  They've been a little scarcer this year than they have in past years, so this was a little unusual.

It's hot here. 85 in the shade on the beach, although the home thermometer claims 90. There was a 10 kt south wind at the beach, which help considerably. Still warm for a snow loving dog, and we stopped in the shade a few times.

We're experiencing bout of red or mahogany tide. It's thick enough that you can actually smell it.

 A Luna Moth that blundered into the yucky water.

 Let's hurry back to the air conditioned car!

The red tide can really gather in the lee of the jetty thick enough that you can swirls in it.

Saturday Beach Report 5/30/15

Another partly sunny, breezy, glorious day at the beach. We arrived in the afternoon, just at high tide (so the fossil hunting was awful). The beach was packed.

The 15-20 mph south wind had a chop kicked up on the south side of the jetty. It didn't stop this couple from kayaking.

A game of beach volleyball was being played at the volleyball court. I think they were cheating by actually keeping score.

Lots of people just coming down to soak up the sun

The incipient red tide I reported a few days ago has blossomed into a thick soup. You can even smell it in the air, if you have the experience of growing algae in the lab.

The was a game of Frisbee being played in the water. In this case, the rules seemed to require holding a beer to handicap your agility and ability to grab.

We had a surprising first today. As we rounded a corner at Calvert beach we encountered our very first nude sun bather. She had a companion out in the water skinny dipping (NSFW).

Some heavy construction work going on.

Now, that's quite a pair of speakers!

5/26/15 Beach Report

What a difference a day makes! Saturday and Sunday the beach was literally jammed with people. Today it was nearly empty. Just a few beach goers and dog walkers.

 It looks like we have a "red" or "mahogany tide" getting going. The water was stained pretty uniformly a light reddish brown.  It's not bad yet, though.

We are still experiencing warm and windy weather, with South winds reaching 20+ knots.

Some of the few people on the beach, they saw me pick up a shark's tooth (one of very few) and inquired, so I showed them what I had and explained where they came from (they were expecting white, fresh teeth).

Red Tide at the Beach

We got off to a late start this morning; about 11:30.  It was another wonderful fall day, blue sky with just enough clouds, no wind, and clear water (check that out for contrast later).

The Kudzu on the cliff suffered a die back along the rocks where I presume it got a lot of salt spray a few days ago.  I swear, salt water may be the only thing that saves the world from from being consumed by Kudzu.  That and frost.

An old friend poses on the rocks.

 A good way to wile away a few hours. 

"Catch anything?" 

"Only a couple of Spot and a humongous crab"

"Keep the crab?" 

"No, too much trouble."

Barefoot lasses.

Now look at the water.  By the time we had returned from our walk, a red tide had washed in.  It was just a few blotches along the shore.

It's interesting to me that small algae cell that can just barely swim (a cm/min or less), and grow pretty slowly, manage to stay together in such coherent patches over long periods.  They must have some chemical means of staying in contact, and keep the patches together. 

A pretty good day for shark's teeth.  About 40 in all, though none were "top shelf" quality.  At least it will help keep the monthly average up after a few days of not collecting any.