While bull sharks and La Plata dolphins live in both saltwater and freshwater, salmon are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean and then return to freshwater to reproduce.
But human swimmers and dinoflagellates interact in an interesting manner that may not be readily apparent.
Ocean swimmers who swim through red tide sometimes feel like they are swimming through a massive can of spilled tomato soup in the ocean.
When the red tide blooms, caused by dinoflagellates or small one cell marine organisms, swimmers usually feel the slime of these organisms on the surface of the water. Andy Seretan recalls, “When we wash out our swimsuits after swimming in the red tide, the red color turns to green as the bioluminescence glow in the dark.”
But when these same ocean swimmers head to a pool, they encounter the dinoflagellates once again in an indirect way. When the dinoflagellate die, their fossilized matter becomes diatomaceous earth. This matter is mined and is used to coat swimming pool filters, serving as minute sieves to remove debris as small as 5 microns.
From red tide to pool side…the circle of life in the open water world is always interesting.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.