'Red Bay' continues to fox Vizagites

VISAKHAPATNAM: The unusual sight of the azure waters of Bay of Bengal turning reddish in colour on a nearly half a kilometer stretch of RK Beach, from the Kali Temple to the Kurusura Submarine Museum, continued to fox Vizagites and scientists alike on Saturday.
S Sumanth, a private-sector employee residing in an apartment near R K Beach said, "I have been born and brought up in Vizag but don't remember ever coming across such a bizarre sight of the sea waters turning red.At times, a few metres of sea water would turn reddish due to soil erosion or after the submarine museum was freshly painted but definitely not this type of red colour persisting for over 48 hours over such a huge stretch."
The change of the colour of the sea was first noticed on Friday and the colour red became visible again during high tides on Saturday. While on Friday night, after preliminary tests, scientists at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) had attributed the red colour to the 'Red Tide' effect caused by the presence of bulk species of dinoflagellates, when the level of artificial nutrients in sea water is high and certain aquatic species surface due to the abundance of food available, but after further testing on Saturday, NIO scientists said the colour could also be due to sand erosion underneath the sea. They said that further monitoring and analysis of samples of sea water in that stretch was underway.
Principal scientist in-charge of NIO Dr V S N Murty said, "Though initially, we thought the red colour is due to the untimely occurance of the 'red tide' phenomena, after chemical and biological analysis on Saturday, it seems that the reddish colour is due to sand and soil movement below the sea, which is being seen during tidal variations, between high and low tide."
"The colour extends around a metre from the coast into the sea. However, we will be observing the sea water for the next few days and collecting samples daily for analysis. Only then can we come to a definite conclusion," he added. While speculating about the causes for the 'bleeding sea' effect, experts and people had attributed it to various factors, including pollution caused by dumping of pharma effluents, soil erosion on the beach and discharge of some coloured substance by ships.