A "red tide" that swept into the Port of Eden and Quarantine Bay last week was the work of Mother Nature and not the result of some man-made catastrophe.
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Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre manager Kerryn Wood said their phones "ran hot" whenever a red tide occurred, but she reassured residents and visitors that it was a relatively common phenomenon.
"This is a natural occurrence that happens every year around spring, when the variables all align: water temperature, air temperature, winds, currents and tides," Ms Wood said.
"Some blooms are considered harmful to marine life and I probably wouldn’t swim in it or ingest it.”
Red tides are algal blooms, large concentrations of microorganisms known as dinoflagellates. Some glow in the dark and brighten when agitated by boats or even migrating whales.
A massive bloom occurred in and around Eden in 2013.