30-mile red bloom off N.C. coast is harmless, scientists say

By Catherine Kozak
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 9, 2008

Miles of deep red in the ocean could be seen from the air between Hatteras and Oregon Inlet, but a coastal scientist said the bloom is not toxic.

“It happens to be reddish,” said Ben Peierls, a graduate research assistant at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, “but it’s not a red tide.”

Hans Paerl, a professor at the marine institute, identified the organism in samples that were collected on Monday as a ciliate, a protozoan that is photosynthetic but is not harmful like similar-looking blooms caused by dangerous dinoflagellates, said Patti Fowler, acting section chief at the state Shellfish Sanitation and Recreational Water Quality Division.

“It’s not a public health problem,” she said.

In a flyover Monday, the bloom could be seen stretching 30 miles long and a half mile wide offshore.

“This was a big one,” Fowler said Thursday. “It’s bright, bright deep red.”

The bloom is expected to dissipate as the wind and tides change.

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Annual event

Submitted by Craig Paskewic on Thu, 10/09/2008 at 5:49 pm.

This happens each year...autumnal turnover, I believe it's called.

To this day, after 40 plus years of fisind, I practice catch and release.

The doc's, enviro weenies, etc., can tell me it's okay to eat what I catch. I won't consume anything when this event happens, nor will I go fishing for 2-3 weeks afterwards.