The seawater, which turned red, frightened tourists on several beaches in Hurghada. Local marine biologists reassure shocked tourists by saying that the color of the water is an annual natural phenomenon and not a toxic “red tide” – on the contrary, evidence of the well-being of living organisms that attract thousands of tourists to Hurghada – it’s coral.
This explanation was published in the local media by Dr. Mahmoud Hanafi, Professor of Marine Environment at the University of the Suez Canal. He noted that tourists are very worried when the sea water turns red. Many people have heard about the phenomenon of “red tide”, which occurs due to an increase in the number of toxic algae and leads to the death of marine organisms. But the “red tide” – a large-scale flowering of water caused by the reproduction of algae from the group of dinoflagellates – is not typical for the Red Sea and Egypt, the professor reassured tourists.
What is happening on the beaches of Hurghada? “The red color of the water on the beaches of Hurghada is caused by a unique phenomenon of reproduction, which is called” intensive compatible reproduction.” It is caused by a group of corals that reproduce at the same time, and this is an interesting scientific precedent, “said the professor.
According to him, this “bloom” of water comes about once a year, when 12 species of coral begin to reproduce simultaneously. “After fertilization, the egg rises to the surface of the sea, and they are the red mass that scares tourists,” – said the professor.