GARDINER — The color of the bloom is red to orange, but experts don’t believe it’s red tide.
Unlike paralytic shellfish poisoning — or red tide, which is actually colorless or slightly tinted — there’s a type of phytoplankton bloom that is harmless to marine life and people, experts say.
That large band of red-orange lapping up against the shore near the Discovery Bay boat ramp on Gardiner Beach Road is considered to be a massive bloom of Noctiluca.
Noctiluca is a dinoflagellate that eats other organisms to survive. It does not produce toxins — unlike certain plankton associated with paralytic shellfish poison, said Dan Hannafious, assistant executive director of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and a leader in the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program.
It is merely food to larger sea creatures.
“I saw one of these types of blooms about eight years ago in Discovery Bay, and it is striking,” said Neil Harrington, Jefferson County water quality manager, adding he had not heard any reports from Discovery Bay-area residents as of Thursday.
“People have called me about it in the past wondering what it was,” he added.
Wayne King, Jefferson County Public Utility Commission chairman who has long lived a short walk from the boat ramp, said Thursday morning was one of the heaviest blooms he’s seen.
“I took a picture of it,” King said, standing on the boat ramp.
“It usually shows up when it’s flat calm.”
The bloom ran 20 feet wide or more down the Discovery Bay shores of Gardiner for at least a mile Thursday afternoon.
Bloom heaviest in Hood Canal
While Noctiluca is easily viewed in parts of Discovery Bay, the bloom is heaviest at the south end of Hood Canal from Seabeck to Union and touches at least the southern end of East Jefferson County at Triton Cove, Hannafious said.
That’s where most of the reports are coming from, he said, adding he has not heard from any officials or residents in Jefferson County.
Hannafious explained that warmer sunny weather is prime for the pinhead-sized plankton to bloom. The bloom floats in long clumps on the surface and drifts around in ribbons with the winds and tides.
Other observers have reported ribbons of unidentified plankton growing in Liberty Bay near Poulsbo, he said.
Hannafious urges that recreational shellfish harvesters check with local health officials for potential risks of paralytic shellfish poisoning before hitting the beach.
As for Noctiluca, he said, “It’s a good thing to try to get the message out there that this is a type of phytoplankton that’s blooming that’s not harmful.”
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
