Red Tide Continues in Dubai and Threatens Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi waters on red tide alert

04/07/2009 11:48 PM | By Rayeesa Absal and Sunita Menon, Staff Reporters

Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Beaches of Abu Dhabi are on “red tide” alert, officials said on Tuesday, while those in Dubai were clear of the menace.

Dubai residents and tourists were seen having a good time on the beaches yesterday.

Civic officials in both cities are keeping a constant watch of the waters for the potentially poisonous algal bloom.

“We are monitoring the situation closely. So far it has not entered the capital but it depends on factors like wind direction and water salinity”, said Thabit Al Abdessalaam, Director of Biodiversity Sector – Marine Environment at Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD). “It is unlikely that it will spread to Abu Dhabi because today it [red tide] is very much dissipated and was not seen in its original intensity. Its usual life cycle is about 3 to 4 days”, he noted.

EAD, along with the Dubai authorities, inspected water bodies on Monday to find that the red tide had spread until the Jebel Ali area. “The fact that it stopped raining is also helping us, because rain would cause draining of more nutrients into the sea which triggers red tide.” The winds are also not in the easterly direction, he added.

EAD is coordinating with the Abu Dhabi Municipality as well as authorities in Dubai to make sure all precautionary measures are taken, Abdessalaam said.

The last time the emirate witnessed a major red tide problem was in 2003, when fish kills were recorded in Mussafah Channel.

Massive and Long-Lasting Red Tide in UAE Now Hitting Famous Dubai Areas

Two beaches in Dubai closed as traces of Red Tide surfaces

04/07/2009 09:09 AM | By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter

Dubai: Beaches near Burj Al Arab and another one located close to the Umm Suqeim Park have been closed by the Dubai Municipality as traces of Red Tide in these two beaches have surfaced again.

Mohammad Abdul Rehman Hassan, the head of the marine environment and wildlife section, told Gulf News that there were no traces of Red Tide found on Dubai shores in the morning during water testing.

Red tide is the result of an influx of a type of algal bloom; it is so named because it turns the water a reddish colour.

“They have surfaced again and so we have decided to close the beaches to ensure the safety of beachgoers. People are advised not to venture into these two beaches. They should make no contact with the water, nor consume the dead fishes that are washed ashore. Care should also be taken not to inhale the air after a wave hits the shoreline. This can prove hazardous to health,” he said.

Hassan did not rule out the possibility of shutting down more beaches if the Red Tide continues to frequent the area.

Dubai Beaches Contaminated Again

A section of public beach near a sailing club was closed yesterday to let inspectors find out what contaminated the water.

Beach users said the water was black and Mohammed Abdul Rahman Hassan, the head of marine environment and wildlife section at the municipality, confirmed that inspectors had noticed “decolourised” water in the area and closed the beach.

Water samples were collected from the stretch along the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club area. Test results will determine whether the beach can be reopened.

“We took fresh samples today and the results will be out in the coming days. This means that the stretch of the beach area will remain closed for at least the next two days,” Mr Hassan said.

The contaminant apparently was in discharges from a storm-water drainage pipe. Industrial waste dumped into the pipeline could be one of the causes, he said. The beach next to the sailing club was shut by municipal ­officials in September last year when sewage illegally dumped by tanker drivers into the city’s storm drains flowed into the sea…SOURCE

Looking at the Environmental Impact of Palm Jumeirah

UN scientists say that although the waters off Dubai’s coast will never again be what they once were, the Palm Jumeirah offshore structure is creating a new complex marine ecosystem despite years of disruptive construction work.

The United Nations University’s International Network on Water, Environment and Health, commissioned by the Palm developer Nakheel, compiled a report on the effects of the project.

They concluded that marine life is slowly returning to the coastline.

“They are developing into very interesting rocky reefs,” said the chief scientist behind the research, Dr Peter Sale, a marine ecologist.

Dr Sale is the assistant director of the United Nations University network, which has worked with Nakheel since early 2007. The goal of the collaboration is for the scientists to pursue a long-term environmental monitoring programme and a sustainable management plan for the waters surrounding Nakheel’s man-made islands.

Nakheel’s decision to build a series of structures along Dubai’s coastline has drawn criticism from conservationists opposed to the environmental cost of the projects, such as large-scale destruction of coral reefs and changes in water flows.

The Palm Jebel Ali, for example, is being built in a formerly protected area, the Jebel Ali Marine Sanctuary. The area was given legal protection in 1998 on the grounds that it housed one of the Gulf’s richest marine ecosystems, with 34 coral species and 77 species of reef fish. To mitigate the damage it has caused, Nakheel financed a scheme under which the Emirates Marine Environment Group, an NGO, transplanted corals elsewhere.

Despite initial positive results, the long-term benefits are still unknown.

Yesterday, the UN scientists acknowledged that the ecosystem that existed off Dubai’s coast has been lost forever.

“There are certainly going to be differences,” said Dr Ken Drouillard, associate professor at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and Biological Sciences at the University of Windsor, Canada, who participated in the study.

“Much more complex habitat characteristics were present in the past.”…MORE

Dubai Yacht Club and Surrounding Beaches Now Face Industrial Waste Pollution

You cannot have tourism with polluted beaches.  Dubai needs to to all means necessary to eliminate this immediately.

Almost three months after the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club (DOSC) was forced to suspend all operations due to the storm water drains sewage problem, the club is now facing another hazard — industrial waste — according to an official.

A senior official of the club said though the sewage flow had stopped, they were now dealing with what they believe was industrial waste coming into the beach area from the same storm water drains.

The official said that they had contacted the civic body which talked about the ongoing investigations, but things are yet to materialise.

DOSC authorities said though they wanted to clean up the waters, it was of no use as the flow of the waste was continuous.

“We can hire someone and clean up the area and the water. This will take in a lot of resources and finances. But then the flow is continuous. So unless, this new problem is not taken care of completely, our resources will go waste,” the official said.

“We believe these are industrial wastes coming in from the Al Quoz Industrial area through the storm water drains. This has been going on for almost a month on a very regular basis.

“Under such a situation, the beach cannot be opened. The Dubai Municipality has intimated about the same and they have assured us of proper investigations,” he said.

Mohammed Abdul Rahman Hasan, the Head of Marine Environment and Sanctuaries Unit at the DM said, “We are not sure of the fact that it is industrial waste. It could be rain water as well, The DM is presently looking into the matter and there will a proper investigation into this,” he said…SOURCE

Red Tide is Still Wreaking Havoc on UAE’s East Coast

On the UAE’s east coast (near Dibba), red tide has completely devastated the marine environment.  While red tide is a naturally occuring process, you have to wonder if the insane island projects near Dibba are taking a toll on the environment.

Wikipedia defines red tide as follows:

“Red tide” is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom, an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column, or “bloom”. These algae, more specifically phytoplankton, are microscopic, single-celled protists, plant-like organisms that can form dense, visible patches near the water’s surface. Certain species of phytoplankton contain photosynthetic pigments that vary in colour from green to brown to red, and when the algae are present in high concentrations, the water appears to be discoloured or murky, varying in colour from purple to almost pink, normally being red or green. Not all algal blooms are dense enough to cause water discolouration, and not all discoloured waters associated with algal blooms are red. Additionally, red tides are not typically associated with tidal movement of water, hence the preference among scientists to use the term algal bloom.

Just a week or so ago, the Gulf News reported that the red tide would be dying down.

Fujairah: Officials in the emirate are confident that the ‘red tide’ phenomenon, which they have described as “the worst in years”, could finally be coming to an end.

Despite the closure of a water desalination plant in Khor Fakkan, officials say the natural, seasonal occurrence has already subsided drastically and could be completely dispersed by the change in weather.

However, as a precautionary measure, swimmers with allergic conditions towards pollen or plants were advised to take care and inspect the situation in the sea before taking a dip.

Tonnes of fish which died of asphyxiation were cleaned off the beaches by Dibba municipality workers and fishermen have been banned from fishing within eight nautical miles of the shore.

The marine phenomenon, which scientists refer to as ‘Algal bloom’, has hit Dibba area hard, but remnants have also managed to reach large sways of the east coast including Khor Fakkan.

The event happens when algae accumulates rapidly in the water and can often result in depleting oxygen or producing natural toxins.

Engineer Saif Mohammad Al Shara, Director of the East Region Office for the Ministry of Environment and Water, told Gulf News the recent change in weather could help end this year’s occurrence.

He said: “The ‘red tide’ happens every year but, for a number of reasons, this year it has been the worst for years. The size and spread of the occurrence has adversely affected fishing and tourism industries.”

However, I can report that no such thing has happened.  Fish, sea urchins, crabs, and all other types of marine life are all suffering.  I also managed to snap some pictures to show exactly what is going on.