Urgent Public Notice: RED TIDE SPOTTED AT WILDERNESS
Residents are requested not to eat shellfish from the sea as red tide has been observed in the Garden Route with reports from Storms River Mouth, Plettenberg Bay, Swartvlei Beach, Kleinkrantz, Wilderness, Glentana up to Mossel Bay.
Red tides are a natural phenomenon in coastal waters caused by a dense accumulation of microscopic algae.
The appearance of red tide is expected to last for several days.
According to George Municipality Disaster Management, samples are being gathered for analysis and Noctiluca scintillans is the first species identified. It is a planktonic dinoflagellate that can cause bioluminescence at night and taint surface water reddish-orange.
Even though Noctiluca scintillans is not thought to be harmful to humans, it is advisable to avoid eating any washed-up marine life and to avoid collecting bivalves (oysters, clams, and mussels) until the strain identification is verified.
Eutrophication, or the enrichment of water with nutrients (typically agricultural nutrients that wash into the ocean during rainy times), is linked to Noctiluca scintillans algae blooms.