[NatureNS] Red Tide?? Interesting Walk on Carter's Beach at Night

From: Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 21:54:05 -0300
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Hi Cindy,

Small luminescent green specks of this sort are caused by =20
bioluminescent dinoflagellates such as Lingulodinium polyedrum. This =20
dinoflagellate does contain saxitoxin, one of the toxins associated =20
with PSP (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning).

"Red tides" are a colloquial name for marine algal blooms. =20
Dinoflagellates are important constituents of such blooms, as are =20
other types of phytoplankton such as diatoms and cyanobacteria. The =20
colour of these can be reddish (or not) and there is no real =20
association with tides, so "algal bloom" is a better term. "Red tides" =20=

are often associated with dinoflagellates such as Karenia brevis and =20
Pfiesteria  spp. which release potent neurotoxins called brevetoxins =20
which can kill fish, birds, marine mammals, and other organisms =20
(including people, if they ingest things like shellfish which have =20
accumulated the neurotoxins).

In any event, although both phenomena have dinoflagellates in common, =20=

they are not necessarily the same. The following pages all have useful =20=

information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinoflagellate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karenia_brevis
=
http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/FieldCourses00/PapersMarineEcologyArticles=
/WhatsGlowingintheWaterBio.html

Cheers!

Chris

On 4-Aug-08, at 1:50 PM, Cindy Creighton wrote:

> Hi All:
>
> Jeff and I were walking on Carter=92s Beach in Port Mouton at night on =
=20
> Saturday night and we saw a very interesting sight =96 little =20
> luminescent green specks in the sand with the incoming tide.  We saw =20=

> them right at the water=92s edge, when a wave receded these things =20
> were left behind.  We tried to pick some up to figure out what they =20=

> were using a flashlight to go through the grains of sand, and all I =20=

> could see was a little white thing that looked a piece of a shell, =20
> but it was very flat and elongated.  Once disturbed by me shining =20
> the light on it and sorting through the sand with my finger it =20
> stopped glowing.  I did a Google search to try and find out what =20
> they were and Red Tide kept coming up.  Could this be a red tide?
>
> Shorebird question:
>
> I=92ve been going to Carter=92s Beach for years and there are Willets =20=

> that breed there every year.  When we were there in July, we saw the =20=

> Willets and their fledglings feeding in the marsh behind the beach.  =20=

> This time, there was no sign of any of them.  Would they have headed =20=

> south already?  Also, we didn=92t see any shorebirds of any type =20
> here.  Why would shorebirds not be present on this beach?  Do they =20
> follow certain migratory paths and Carter=92s Beach happens to be =20
> outside that path?  Or maybe it=92s too early yet?
>
> As a side note, the birds we did see here were:
>
> Common Nighthawk
> Common Terns
> Great Black-backed Gulls
> Herring Gulls
> DC Cormorant
> Song Sparrows
>
> Cheers,
> Cindy
>
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.6/1579 - Release Date: =20
> 7/29/2008 6:43 AM
>

Christopher Majka
Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada  B3H =20=

3A6
c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca




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<html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
-webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi =
Cindy,<div><br></div><div>Small luminescent green specks of this sort =
are caused by bioluminescent dinoflagellates such =
as&nbsp;<i>Lingulodinium polyedrum</i>. This dinoflagellate does =
contain&nbsp;saxitoxin, one of the toxins associated with PSP (Paralytic =
Shellfish Poisoning).&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>"Red tides" =
are a colloquial name for marine algal blooms. Dinoflagellates are =
important constituents of such blooms, as are other types of =
phytoplankton such as diatoms and cyanobacteria. The colour of these can =
be reddish (or not) and there is no real association with tides, so =
"algal bloom" is a better term. "Red tides" are =
often&nbsp;associated&nbsp;with dinoflagellates such as&nbsp;<i>Karenia =
brevis</i> and&nbsp;<i>Pfiesteria</i> &nbsp;spp.&nbsp;which release =
potent neurotoxins called&nbsp;brevetoxins&nbsp;which can =
kill&nbsp;fish, birds, marine mammals, and other organisms (including =
people, if they ingest things like shellfish which have accumulated the =
neurotoxins).</div><div><br></div><div>In any event, although both =
phenomena have dinoflagellates in common, they are not necessarily the =
same. The following pages all have useful =
information.</div><div><br></div><div><a =
href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tide">http://en.wikipedia.org/wik=
i/Red_tide</a></div><div><a =
href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinoflagellate">http://en.wikipedia.o=
rg/wiki/Dinoflagellate</a></div><div><a =
href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence">http://en.wikipedia.=
org/wiki/Bioluminescence</a></div><div><a =
href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karenia_brevis">http://en.wikipedia.o=
rg/wiki/Karenia_brevis</a></div><div><div><a =
href=3D"http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/FieldCourses00/PapersMarineEcology=
Articles/WhatsGlowingintheWaterBio.html">http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/F=
ieldCourses00/PapersMarineEcologyArticles/WhatsGlowingintheWaterBio.html</=
a></div><div><br></div><div>Cheers!</div><div><br></div><div>Chris</div></=
div><div><br><div><div>On 4-Aug-08, at 1:50 PM, Cindy Creighton =
wrote:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: =
separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; =
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normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: =
auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div lang=3D"EN-US" link=3D"blue" =
vlink=3D"