The orange tide present in water along Dublin’s south coast has been confirmed as a non-toxic algal bloom.
There were concerns about the nature of the tide following the overflow discharges of wastewater at a number of treatment facilities and pumping stations on Sunday and Monday.
Care for a dip anyone……..? Swimming restrictions currently in place as wastewater appears on the shoreline at #Sandycove and #FortyFoot Photos by @stevehpix for @Independent_ie pic.twitter.com/bBYswsRZrv
— Steve Humphreys #Photographer (@stevehpix) June 25, 2019
However, speaking to Coast Monkey, Marine Institute’s Danielle Crowley has confirmed that the orange-coloured tide is due to an algal bloom.
An algal bloom is a rapid increase in the population of algae in water and some blooms can be recognized by the discolouration of water. Some algal blooms are the result of an excess of nutrients (particularly phosphorus and nitrogen) into waters and higher concentrations of these nutrients in water cause increased growth of algae and green plants.
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council has said the algal bloom around Sandycove is not directly associated with the wastewater overflows at Ringsend.
We have taken samples of the orange coloured water reported at #Sandycove this morning.
Results show that this is not raw sewerage but is a micro-alga called #Noctiluca scintillans #bioluminescence which is non-toxic.
Read more here: https://t.co/EtcxwgivMG pic.twitter.com/nfBzHz7x0o
— dlrcc (@dlrcc) June 25, 2019
There are still bathing prohibition notices in place at Seapoint, Sandycove and the Forty Foot.
