Mike Glenn was on a mission to chase glowing, bright blue waves, a rare sight he witnessed a decade earlier and couldn’t pass up when he heard they had reappeared in San Diego.
So Glenn and his girlfriend Krista Hartin jumped in their car late Wednesday night on the hunt, driving from Newport Beach and stopping along the way to check Laguna Beach, with no luck.
It was about 10 minutes after passing Doheny State Beach in Dana Point that he saw a bright tint to the waves’ whitewash, and he knew he was getting closer.
Glenn was among countless eager spectators who made the midnight journey to the beach, with those who ventured to San Diego getting the best look at the illuminated waves, caused by red tide that, at night time, can cause the ocean to glow.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego announced the rare presence of the phenomenon Wednesday, and several media outlets spread the word.
The red tide is due to bioluminescent dinoflagellates that, when moved by water or waves, “glow neon blue at night,” according to the announcement.
Glenn said he found the best viewing in Oceanside and Carlsbad, at a secluded spot where people quietly watched with their car headlights turned off and without camera flashes ruining the moment. At about 2:30 a.m., knowing he had to be up by 6 a.m., he headed back to Newport Beach.
“It was absolutely amazing,” he said. “Going down there on an adventure to try and find glowing waves was definitely an experience I don’t think we’ll ever forget. And the reward for that was worth the lack of sleep I got that last night.”
Red tides
Red tides are unpredictable and not all of them produce bioluminescence. There is no red tide monitoring program, but the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System at Scripps Oceanography performs weekly sampling for potential harmful algal toxins.
Scientists do not know how long the current red tide will last, as previous events have lasted anywhere from one week to a month or more. The sightings began Monday, May 7, and were observed from La Jolla to Encinitas.
Julianne Steers, Marine Biologist and Director of Husbandry for the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, said it’s very likely Orange County will see the red tide bloom that illuminated the ocean further south.
Steers said these kinds of tides are more common during spring and summer months, showing up when the weather warms.
According to Scripps biological oceanographer Peter Franks, the actual red tide is most visible during the day between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
At midday, the photosynthetic organisms swim upward toward the light, creating a thin, dense layer near the surface. Circulation patterns create dense groups of the red tide organisms over the troughs of the waves.
The last time red tide was seen in the area was in 2013, according to Scripps.
Retired Doheny State Park ranger Jim Serpa said he’s seen red tide dozens of times through the years, sometimes lasting months.
He remembers one winter night in the mid-90s when a co-worker woke him up with a midnight phone call to check out the glowing water.
“It’s exploding everywhere. You can see fish swimming through the water like ghosts,” Serpa recalled his friend saying. He got up and the duo paddleboarded into the neon water.
“Every time we raked the water, paddling, it just exploded with this blue color. We’re sitting out there by the rock, we’re just seeing fish zoom by,” Serpa said. “It looks like you’re in outer space.”
Huntington Beach surfer Paul Torrealba remembers camping in 2012 at San Onofre State Beach and noticing the bright blue waves while out for a walk. He and his friends quickly grabbed their surfboards.
