Red Tide - Santa Barbara Coast - 2010 07-02
Red tide sample, approximately 1/100th of a drop, photographed at 40x. The dominant species is the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum. Other dinoflagellates visible in much less abundance are Prorocentrum micans, Ceratium furca and one Ceratium divaricatum. To give an idea of the population densities we are seeing in this red tide, the 20um mesh net with a 0.15m radius was towed 2 meters to yield this sample.
The dominant red tide species in our region is a dinoflagellate, Lingulodinium polyedrum. The live cells are reddish-orange, and the empty frustules are clear-grey. The red water color is caused by the tremendous abundance of this microorganisms. You are looking at approximately 1/1000th of a drop of the sample in this image. 100x, but enlarged with software.
