The sea is pink in Penang?
Based on reports, the waves in Penang has been in its pink era, and it's so pretty!
The streaks of pink algae is a non-toxic algal bloom that grows when rainy days are followed by hot days.
It is completely harmless, but fishermen have gotten poor catches because the high ammonia content irritates fishies, causing them to swim away.
"I was walking along the trail, then I looked over at the beach and the pink was so visible Large streaks of the algal bloom floated close to shore. While we cannot determine when it will happen, it has become common.
"When it rains, you get nutrients flowing from the land into the sea. Algae or plankton thrive on it and that is when you get to see it bloom like this.
"This pink organism does have a stinky, ammonia smell. Fish will not like it as it is not natural to them and they will get away from it.
"Last night, we received videos of fish swimming all the way up to the beach, like stingrays", said deputy director of Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies.
Besides being ammoniacal, the algae in super high concentrations robbed seawater of oxygen at night making photosynthesis not possible.
Scientists however confirmed that it was non-toxic and not a threat to marine life beyond being an irritant.
They also confirmed that the algae is Noctiluca scintillans. It is not harmful to humans and fish caught around Penang was still safe to eat.
