Cover shot of Fistral in full green-goodness from Nathan Benham.
If you’ve had a spring surf over the past few days on the north coast of Cornwall, it’s likely you’ve noticed the sea is a bit greener than usual.
There’s many coconut wireless theories about what’s happening out there; run-off, sewage, but the reality is, this is an algae bloom. And this current one is exceptionally large, spanning across the south west of the UK but concentrated towards Cornwall’s north coast, with a much larger pocket set for southern and west Wales.
There are different types of phytoplankton and algae in the UK. In fact, they’re so similar that people often interchange the two terms, but phytoplankton is a specific group of microscopic algae that forms the basis of the aquatic food chain. So what is it then, we’re seeing off the coast of Cornwall right now?
See that red strip along Cornwall’s north coast? That’s the bloom as of April 1st. And further north, a larger bloom heading into Wales. Image recorded by Plymouth Marine Laboratory’s EUROHAB portal.
According to the above data from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), the bloom could be of Karenia mikimotoi — which is a type of microscopic, single-cell algae, found all over the world. It’s known as a HAB-species, (Harmful Algae Bloom-species) that can form Red Tides — a common term used to describe when algae grows out of control.
However, Wavelength contacted PML about the above data, because Karenia mikimotoi only thrives in much warmer water, so the information wasn’t making much sense.
The bloom through Crantock too. Photo from Jason Feast.
We sent PML the above screen shot from their EUROHAB model, and a spokesperson confirmed that the colour is due to an algal bloom, and the green pigment is chlorophyl, though the team could not be sure what species of algae it is without sampling: “In UK waters during April, we do indeed see high concentrations of phytoplankton as a result of the spring bloom.
“Regarding the screenshot of the S-3 EUROHAB portal you kindly sent through, this uses satellite data to indicate the risk of a bloom containing a harmful species but without a direct sample, it is unconfirmed. As PML does not sample routinely off the northwest coast of Cornwall, we cannot verify the species present but our plankton experts have commented that they would be surprised if it were karenia mikimotoi as it is the wrong time of year for this species to bloom.”
Looking a similar shade out west. Photo: Benham.
The spokesperson went on to say: “The portal version you accessed is an experimental version. The data from this needs to be cross-checked against the enhanced high resolution version, which was used in the S-3 EUROHAB project to monitor HAB risks, and to confirm these risks in situ data are also required. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us to confirm. Other ocean colour satellite data estimate that a concentration of chlorophyll is high in that area, indicating that there is an algal bloom but as mentioned, we do not know what species are involved.”
There you have it, the algae bloom is chlorophyll, completely normal, non-toxic but it looks vibrant.
Longboarder Amelia Dickinson was surfing through it out west: “The water was apple green, a bit different to the glassy clear waters we’re used to in Cornwall,” she said. “The smell and the colour made it feel like surfing in a pond or a fishtank. I think due to the flat spell, and intense sunlight, it caused a bloom of the algae.”
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