Model which Generates Red Tides

Abstract

DINOFLAGELLATES and Trichodesmium are the algae most commonly responsible for the discolorations of the sea known as red tides. These blooms are rarely observed until their development is complete, so that the events which lead to red tides remain enigmatic. Dinoflagellates are distinguished by their relatively large size compared with other flagellated algae, and by their greater swimming speeds. Many of them produce substances which when released into the water are toxic to animals. Usually any toxin released is probably either destroyed or diffused as rapidly as it is produced, and the species remains harmless, but in special circumstances, not yet adequately identified, the dinoflagellate and its toxin become very abundant and a red tide occurs, which, if prolonged, may be followed by mass mortality of fish and other organisms. Trichodesmium is also motile in the sense that it can produce gas vacuoles which cause it to rise in the water column.