| Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 18 > Issue 2 |
2005, Oceanography 18(2):246–255, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.58
Coastal Ocean Physics and Red Tides: An Example from Monterey Bay, California
Authors | First Paragraph | Full Article | Citation
Authors
John P. Ryan | Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
Heidi M. Dierssen | University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Sciences, Groton, CT, USA
Raphael M. Kudela | University of California, Ocean Sciences Department, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Christopher A. Scholin | Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
Kenneth S. Johnson | Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
James M. Sullivan | University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, RI, USA
Andrew M. Fischer | Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA, and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Erich V. Rienecker | Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
Patrick R. McEnaney | Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
Francisco P. Chavez | Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
First Paragraph
Dense accumulations of certain phytoplankton make the ocean appear reddish. Some of these "red tides" poison marine life and negatively impact coastal fisheries and human health. Complex variability in coastal waters coupled with rudimentary understanding of phytoplankton ecology challenge our ability to understand and predict red tides. During fall 2002, multi-scale physical and biological observations were made preceding and during a red tide bloom in Monterey Bay, California. These intensive observations provided insight into the physical oceanography underlying the event. The bloom was preceded by intrusion of a warm, chlorophyll-poor filament of the California Current, suddenly changing physical and biological conditions through most of the bay. Enhancement of vertical density stratification followed the intrusion and created conditions favoring dinoflagellates. Favorable environmental conditions led to red tide inception in the northern bay, and advection strongly influenced spread of the bloom throughout the bay and out into the adjacent sea. Concentration of dinoflagellates in convergence zones was indicated by the development of dense red tide patches in fronts and in wavelike aggregations having the same scale as internal waves that propagated through the bloom.
Full Article
Citation
Ryan, J.P., H.M. Dierssen, R.M. Kudela, C.A. Scholin, K.S. Johnson, J.M. Sullivan, A.M. Fischer, E.V. Rienecker, P.R. McEnaney, and F.P. Chavez. 2005. Coastal ocean physics and red tides: An example from Monterey Bay, California. Oceanography 18(2):246–255, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.58.