Science

Red tide causing surf to glow in parts of California

09 of May 2018

FILE - In this Sept. 29,2011 file photo a visitor to Oceanside Pier Beach watches the spectacular flashes of neon blue in the crashing waves caused by an intense late-season red tide in Oceanside, Calif. A red tide is causing the surf to glow in parts of California. An algae bloom filled with bioluminescent phytoplankton has been lighting up the ocean from La Jolla to Encinitas since Monday, May 7, 2018. It's a stretch of about 18 miles (29 kilometers). The micro-organisms light up along the face of the wave when it crashes near the shore. (Don Bartletti /Los Angeles Times via AP),FILE - In this Sept. 29,2011 file photo a visitor to Oceanside Pier Beach watches the spectacular flashes of neon blue in the crashing waves caused by an intense late-season red tide in Oceanside, Calif. A red tide is causing the surf to glow in parts of California. An algae bloom filled with bioluminescent phytoplankton has been lighting up the ocean from La Jolla to Encinitas since Monday, May 7, 2018. It's a stretch of about 18 miles (29 kilometers). The micro-organisms light up along the face of the wave when it crashes near the shore. (Don Bartletti /Los Angeles Times via AP)

A red tide is causing the surf to glow in parts of California. An algae bloom filled with bioluminescent phytoplankton has been lighting up the ocean from La Jolla to Encinitas since Monday. It's a stretch of about 18 miles (29 kilometers). Oceanographer Michael Latz tells The San Diego Union-Tribune the last red tide was in September 2013.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A red tide is causing the surf to glow in parts of California.

An algae bloom filled with bioluminescent phytoplankton has been lighting up the ocean from La Jolla to Encinitas since Monday. It’s a stretch of about 18 miles (29 kilometers). The micro-organisms light up along the face of the wave when it crashes near the shore.

Oceanographer Michael Latz tells The San Diego Union-Tribune the last red tide was in September 2013. He says scientists can’t predict when they’ll occur and they really don’t understand the dynamics.

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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com