Scotland’s sea turned turquoise in colour

Team Udayavani, Jul 7, 2021, 11:55 AM IST

Locals and visitors to the Island of Arran, Scotland witnessed a bright turquoise color of the sea. The researchers studied the water samples to decode this strange event.

Peter Miller from Plymouth Marine Laboratory, U.K. confirmed via Twitter that it was caused by single-celled algae called coccolithophores.

It was identified as Emiliania huxleyi, a common non-toxic species found in almost all ocean ecosystems.

I can confirm that it was #coccolithophore E. hux. that turned Clyde turquoise; hardly any other phytoplankton there. Non-toxic, 10μm across. Thanks to @BresnanEileen for electron microscopy of 24 Jun sample @FSC_Millport. https://t.co/AhSPhIS46N pic.twitter.com/Orphbmb4Tu

— Peter Miller (@PeterIMiller) July 4, 2021

Eileen Bresnan, Phytoplankton ecologist carried out advanced microscopic studies on the water sample to identify the algae and revealed its white calcium carbonate discs. The light reflecting off these white chalky algae at the upper layer of the sea gave out the perfect turquoise colour.

Paul Tett, from the Scottish Association for Marine Science said, “The good news is these little algae are one of nature’s ways of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because the calcareous plates take up carbon dioxide from seawater and when they sink to the bottom they are removing it from the sea and the atmosphere.”