Algae Blooms: Karenia Brevis

Red tide or harmful algae blooms can be found all over the world. Algae blooms occur when elevated concentrations of microscopic algae are present in the water. These blooms often occur in the Gulf of Mexico and along Florida’s coast almost every summer and are almost always caused by one type of microscopic algae known as Karenia Brevis. When this alga accumulates it can wreck havoc on an ecosystem and has various detrimental side effects, not only does it affect the environment, but it also can affect human health.
The algae K.Brevis that causes red tide is a type of algae known as dinoflagellates. There are other types of dinoflagellates in different places that have similar effects as the ones affecting the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
Harmful algae like K.brevis can be in very low concentrations throughout a body of water without any effect. The algae become a problem when the wind and water currents condense a population. When a population is condensed and a nutrient source is available the population can explode and starts the beginnings of a red tide. Red tides frequently begin 10-50 miles offshore along the continental shelf. These areas are called initiation zones for red tide. The algae are usually carried into coastal waters with more nutrients where the population grows exponentially. When the population reaches a point where the algae start dying from lack of resources it needs to survive is when the water can turn a reddish color and toxins are released poisoning the water and polluting the air. Once a algae bloom has taken over it can last anywhere from weeks to longer than a year. The time it lasts all depends on factors that helped the algae population
The toxins produced by K.Brevis algae also pollute the air and can cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation. People with lung conditions are especially vulnerable as it can cause future complications in their condition. Not only does the toxin affect the air but it also affects shellfish that are being consumed. Shellfish are not affected by the toxins but they absorb it. When humans ingest infected shellfish they can get neurotoxic shellfish poisoning. This can result in the need of hospitalization fro anyone who has ingested infected