Amazing Red Tide Bioluminescent Waves at La Jolla

Amazing blue glowing waves at La Jolla Shores beach caused by the red tide that hit San Diego on September 29, 2011. The bright blue color is caused by bioluminescence from an algae bloom. The algae is red in the day, hence the name Red Tide, but glows a bright blue at night when agitated, such as when a wave breaks. It's a really awesome sight to see.... when people swim in the water, the entire water around them glows blue. Truly amazing!

No color correction was made to this video.... This is really the color of the waves. The wave in the middle is in slow motion.

And just as a side note -- it is really difficult to get video of these waves. They seem pretty bright in person, but video cameras just have a hard time picking it up and focusing. Only took me about 90 minutes at the beach to get this 16 seconds of good footage :). Going to try again tomorrow by going in the water and see if I can get some close-ups.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• red
• tide
• waves
• bioluminescence
• Bioluminescent
• la
• jolla
• glowing

[3312cdfp5674]

what camera/lens or camcorder did you use? my canon hg21 isnt too good at extreme darkness and my canon xti can't take video...

[yellowwproductions]

@3312cdfp5674 I used a Sony HDR-CX700V.  I also went in about waist deep in the water to get close to the breaking waves -- holding the camera above my head to make sure it didn't get wet :)

[TerrbleTrioHerb]

Why are people swimming in it? Isn't the algae dangerous?

[yellowwproductions]

@TerrbleTrioHerb Because it glows blue when they swim in it and that's cool :). The "Red Tide" can be caused by different types of algae. This bloom in San Diego it's "Lingulodinium polyedrum." Swimmers are at an increased risk of ear infections, or if they have open cuts/wounds. But how often do you get to swim in glowing blue water? :)

[TheTaniaz86]

In Greece we call this phenomena "Yakamos" (γιακαμός). i first saw it last summer and of course i went swimming!! it's amazing, it's like magic wrapping your body, and you make light with your moves underwater!! fantastic! you should try this!

[yellowwproductions]

@TheTaniaz86 Very cool! I saw some folks swimming in it the other day, and it was really neat!

[clat1]

damn you fukushima!!!

[yellowwproductions]

@fishcomputer33 The red tide has a fishy smell to it... so I'd imagine fishy :)

[KristiMichelle2112]

I was just at La Jolla Shore at Thorn Hill Broom! Its the most amazing thing I've ever seen!! And if you kicked the sand,it would glow too! :D sooo amazing! <3

[3312cdfp5674]

@yellowwproductions thanks, lol too cold for me, that would make a lot more sense on why they look so big without zooming in

[ChanceIsJustChillin]

@yellowwproductions well thats awesome you are extremely lucky to see this.

[TheShnag]

DRINK RED TIDE

GLOWING PISS

[TerrbleTrioHerb]

@yellowwproductions Aha. Okay, so no brain-eating-amoebas. Cool.