Image by Alvaro Bejarano from Pixabay
RED TIDE
Years ago an avid surfer friend took me to a perfect spot overlooking the shore of Manhattan Beach in California to experience the miracle of Red Tide.
Or so it seemed to me.
Earlier, before dark, we had supped at a little seafood café on Pacific Coast Hwy. Driving there I had noticed the icky color of the water—reddish brown.
Not only that, but a thoroughly unpleasant odor, which Bob explained was the stench of dying plankton. Ugh.
Realizing that he wanted to surf in that goop at night struck me as gross. But I was willing to sit on a concrete wall along the strand and wait while my friend surfed his heart out in spite of what I considered a disgusting prospect.
So down to the beach we went, where he met some other die-hards willing to venture into the stinky sea.
But wait!
Suddenly, along with the sound of a crashing wave, the ocean was slashed asunder—revealing the sky of a hidden world beneath the surface! A sky the color of startling incandescent turquoise! It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. With each breaking wave the miracle repeated, ripping open that vista to unknown realms below!
And wow!
A series of perfectly breaking waves then rolled in, peopled by surfers carving gorgeous arcing sprays of light!
It was spectacular! Unbelievable to someone like me who had never heard of this phenomenon!
I ran down to the water, yelping with delight when splashes of iridescent light exploded around my feet with each step, the whole scene transporting me into a place of joyous appreciation.
Sadly, the next day my friend suffered from runny red eyes and nose, itchy skin, and various other discomforts. Turns out the dying algae is toxic both to humans and sea life, an aspect of it I would have preferred not to learn so soon, as it did diminish the glory of my aesthetic experience.
Glad I had those enthralling moments though, because they rivaled experiencing a night sky waltzing with rainbows of aurora borealis…
By Vone Deporter
I hope you enjoyed the awesome video!
Have you ever seen this?
