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 News from Around Banderas Bay | June 2008 
Red Tide in La Bahìa de Banderas
 Ron Walker - grupoecologico.com
| | A red tide off the coast of La Jolla, California - "Red tide" is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom, an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column, or "bloom." (Read more about 'Red Tides' at Wikipedia.org) | | |
Puerto Vallarta - A newspaper article appeared on pages 4 and 5 of the Tribuna de la Bahía on Wednesday, June 4, 2008, entitled "Descartan Especialistas Peligro por Espuma en el Mar."
Briefly, the article indicates that the Navy and biologists from the University of Guadalajara have identified the foam that has been in the ocean around Puerto Vallarta since April as a "Red Tide" of the flagellate Cochlodinium Catenatum. You can Google this reference as well as Pyura Praeputialis and Phaeocystis. (You will find a reference to María del Carmen Cortès Lara at the Cochlodinium site with reference to her article in the Revista de Biología Tropical referring to her studies in 2000 in Bahía de Banderas. She is the biologist at the UdeG.)
While the referenced newspaper article repeatedly states that there is no danger to humans, it goes on to note that Red Tides can cause damage to the oxygen levels of the water, which affect other marine life and, if consumed or contacted by humans, can become an irritant to the extent of respiratory or facial paralysis.
The article further states that water samples will be taken on June 6th by the Health Department and the results will be made known at a later date.
Members of Grupo Ecológico de Puerto Vallarta A.C., a local conservation society, are available for discussions on this subject and other ecological issues in Puerto Vallarta. For more information, visit GrupoEcologico.com or send an email to grupoecologicopv(at)yahoo.com.mx. |
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