Abstract
Contrasting Bays and Red Tides in the Southern Benguela Upwelling System
Highlights
In February 2007, large areas of False Bay on the southern African coast (Figure 1) were subjected to extreme discoloration owing to a bloom of the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polygramma (Figure 2)
In late February and early March, the bloom accumulated in Gordons Bay in the northeastern corner of False Bay, where recorded cell concentrations exceeded 20 x 106 cells l-1
Small mortalities of marine organisms reported in the region of Gordons Bay and the Strand were thought to be a consequence of oxygen depletion resulting from bloom decay
Summary
In late summer and autumn of 2007, red tides were present in two prominent bays of the southern Benguela upwelling system, False Bay and St. Helena Bay. In False Bay, the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polygramma attained concentrations of 20 x 106 cells l-1 and posed a serious environmental threat through bloom decay and anoxia. In St. Helena Bay, the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella reached concentrations of 5 x 105 cells l-1 and posed a threat to human health by rendering shellfish highly toxic. Multiscale observations obtained from coastal monitoring stations, ship-based transects, and aircraft and satellite remote sensing were used to identify the scale and physical forcing of these blooms, which appear to be localized manifestations within adjacent subsystems of the southern Benguela upwelling region
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